The Yock Island Correctional School
by Linen Tartaruga
Summary: For decades the Yock Island Correctional School has taken in troubled youths and put them on the path of good. But all good things must come to an end, as must the bad, and it is from the inside that they crumble.
1. Prologue: Yock Island and Head Mistress

**Title: The Yock Island Correctional School  
Characters: **Oh, pretty much everyone ever mentioned in the series; but it really centers around Al, Ed, and Roy.  
**Summary: **For decades the Yock Island Correction School has taken in troubled youths and put them on the path of good. But all good things must come to an end, as must the bad. And it is from the inside that they crumble.  
**Disclaimer:** If I owned FMA, then I wouldn't be poor and this wouldn't be a fanfic.  
**Rating: **R/M  
**Warnings: **AU; future violence, shounen ai, and possible yaoi; will definately include Ed/Roy and Ed/Al (not incestuously though), shooting for eventual Ed/Roy/Al; possible Fury/Schieska; other pairings to work themselves out as we go.  
**Notes: **Okay, so this is a story that I'd been sitting on for the longest time but hadn't been doing anything with it. So, I guess this is technically a fusion 'cause this storyline was meant to be an original story. Anyways, as mentioned, I'm definately including Ed/Roy and Ed/Al, not incestuously because they're not brothers in this universe, but I'm shooting for Ed/Roy/Al, even if it just comes in in the end. Other pairings will probably include Hughes/Gracia, past-Hughes/Roy, Fury/Schieska, and I might pair the Tringhams up with someone (or each other...) depending on how things play out. I dunno, I'm kinda playing the details by ear.

Be forewarned, I'm hoping to make this into a very long fic (well, long for me, which would be more than two chapters, if you want to get down to it :P), and I'm not that great with updates. Hopefully though, since this story's been gnawing on me for forever, I'll be able to keep up momentum and inspiration!

* * *

**Prologue: Yock Island and Head Mistress**

The young boy looked thoroughly despondent as he watched the water lap lazily against the side of the small dinghy boat. It seemed so unusual; he had never been a very good swimmer, but he used to love sitting by the river back home. It had been his favorite way to relax, just watching the river flow by.

Now, however... Now...

"Scared?"

Why did everyone have to try and make conversation? The blonde frowned up at the man rowing the boat. He was somewhat muscular, too much so to be very attractive, not to mention the fact that he seemed to be missing a few teeth, and it didn't appear as if he or his clothes had seen a wash in... Well, longer than the boy liked to think.

"Don't worry," the man laughed, releasing one of the oars to slap the side of the boat, "She's sturdy."

His younger passenger rolled his eyes at the man, and he quickly took up the oar again.

"Well, come to think of it, I'd probably be a little scared too if I was in your shoes."

Still no answer.

"Say, kid, what's your name?"

Finally the blonde looked back up at the man again, seeming to consider actually answering the question. After a few long moments passed, however, he started to think that maybe he'd been wrong.

"Alphonse..."

It was the rower's turn to blink, though he smiled at his passenger -- _Alphonse_ -- his semi-toothless smile. "Alphonse, huh? Mind if I call you 'Al'?" He took the boy's return to silence as a 'yes.' "So, what'd a shy kid like you do to end up headin' to a place like _that_?"

Alphonse looked over the man's shoulder where he'd nodded towards the massive concrete building sitting alone on its own island, secluded in the middle of the river they were rowing through. It was one of the ugliest buildings the boy had ever seen, he'd immediately decided. It was just a big cement box, attached to another cement box which was attached to yet another cement box. There weren't too many windows (two or three to each floor) and the foundation was so covered in algae that it was dyed an ugly olive green.

The island itself, even, wasn't in the _least _bit welcoming. There wasn't a tree to be seen and, where there should have been grass, there was a lawn of pebbles and sand. The only thing that appeared even _remotely _livable was a large pristine white house set just on the edge of the western shore. It looked like a large cottage and, from what little Alphonse had heard of the place, that could only be the home of the Head Master. After all, none of the _students _would ever be allowed to live in such a house.

He didn't realize until the boat lurched forward that he hadn't even bothered to refuse to answer the man's question. Somehow, without the boy even realizing it, the small little wooden boat had closed the distance to shore and the titanic cement building loomed over him like some unforgiving god waiting to swallow him whole for his sins against him.

"Hey," the rower called, tossing the blonde's trunk onto shore, "C'mon, Al; you don't wanna keep the Head Mistress waiting. She doesn't really like tardiness and, I dunno about you, but I don't wanna get on her bad side, if you know what I mean."

Regardless of the fact that Alphonse _didn't _really know what he meant, he climbed out of the boat, taking one last look at the river and the land beyond it, his home before all this had happened; he had the feeling that he wouldn't get the chance to see it again for a long time.

* * *

The pebbles crunched together beneath their feet as the semi-toothless rower led Alphonse away from the shore towards the mammoth buildings, sitting like a great stylized mountain range. It was a most depressing sight, and the blonde found his gaze wandering to the white house to their left. 

It wasn't very far, perhaps a few hundred feet away from where they'd come to shore, and Alphonse could make out most of it. It was a rather grand-looking building, as far as residences went -- a great wraparound porch with stairs leading up to an awesome double-door entryway that had to be, by Alphonse's estimation, about seven feet tall. Five windows on the front face of the house and, it appeared, three floors. There was also another large window on the side that gave him at least a small view of the inside. What he could see certainly impressed him as much as the outside -- high ceilings, hardwood floors, large empty spaces that not even the amount of lavish and over-decorated furniture could fill up -- or, it would have, if he wasn't about to spend the next four years, at _least_, in what appeared to amount to a prison.

"Alphonse."

A deep female voice caught the boy's attention just before he ran into his escort's back. He hadn't been paying attention again, and, again, he found that his own personal musings had just brought him closer to this prison, his future "home." Ironic, he thought, when it was his musings that had led him here in the first place.

Glancing around the man's wide shoulders, Alphonse saw, for the first time, the woman they called Dante.

She was the cofounder of the..._institution _looming behind her and had run it since its opening, which anyone would believe just from looking at her. The Head Mistress was incredibly tall, for a woman, with an almost stately air about her. Long brown hair was piled loosely but elegantly atop her head in style popular quite a few decades ago, which was probably where she'd gotten her clothing from as well. Long sleeves, high necks, and long skirts with a lace shawl and gloves, and boots that didn't appear to be at _all _comfortable; it was as if she was trying to cover up every piece of flesh on her body. Unfortunately, however, her face was still exposed.

"Pretty" wasn't exactly the way to describe her, though ugly was quite an overstatement as well. Oh, the woman had wrinkles, as so many of the aging _do_. The problem was that she was smiling, but the lines on her face didn't match the expression.

_They're frown lines..._ Alphonse realized.

This woman was smiling, but it didn't make it past her lips. There was something...disturbing, almost chilling, about her face, and the boy immediately decided that he didn't want to know what it was.

While Alphonse had been watching Dante, she'd been having a brief conversation with the boatman; it hadn't been all that interesting anyway, so he didn't care that he hadn't paid any attention to it. When the rower shoved the boy's trunk towards him however, and waved as he started back towards the boat, Alphonse was finally met with the reality of what he'd gotten himself into.

Left alone with Dante, his new Head Mistress, and the concrete monster just in back of her, a cold chill slid down the boy's spine. This place was dangerous -- probably just as dangerous as the woman before him -- and he wished to a god he wasn't even certain he believed in that he'd just decided to leave things be.

"Well, Alphonse," Dante said, her smooth alto voice as clear as any politicians, "Take your trunk and come with me. I'll show you to your room, and then it's up to _you_ what becomes of you after that."

_To be continued..._


	2. Chapter 1: Edward

**Chapter 1: Edward**

"Alphonse?"

"I told you, you can call me 'Al,' Fletcher."

"Oh, r-right. I'm sorry, Alphonse- I mean Al!"

Alphonse could see his roommate's blush without even having to look over at the other desk.

"What did you want, Fletcher?" He hadn't meant to sound so annoyed, so he turned around in his chair and smiled at the other boy across the room.

It didn't seem to help much, though, as the smaller blonde just blushed some more and stuttered an apology for bothering him. Really, sometimes he was just _too_ sensitive; though it _could_ be cute sometimes.

"No, Fletcher," Alphonse reassured the boy, "It's okay, really. What did you want to know?"

It took him another few moments to work up to actually asking his question. "You did really well on the math test the other day, right?"

"I did okay, yeah."

Fletcher knew that wasn't true, but he wasn't about to dispute his roommate's modesty either. "Well, I didn't do that great so...I was wondering if, maybe, you could help me study for the next one?"

Alphonse could have laughed, if he didn't know that the shy little boy would probably misconstrue it as Alphonse making fun of him. "I dunno, Fletcher. You think the Head Mistress would mind me giving you extra help?"

The way the smaller boy paled, it was obvious that hadn't been the right answer either, and Alphonse quickly tried to rectify the situation before poor Fletcher had a heart attack. "No, no, Fletcher, I was only kidding. She won't care; why would she? I'll help you study, don't worry about it okay?"

His only answer was a meek little nod and he regretted now putting the idea into his roommate's head.

"Hey, Fletcher," the blonde spoke up again, leaving his desk and crossing most of the small room, "It's almost dinnertime, right? Why don't we start heading down to the mess hall?"

That seemed to lighten the mood a bit, and in a second the two boys were out the door, laughing and talking quietly with each other; the threat of the Head Mistress secondary on their minds, for the moment.

* * *

The cafeteria, or "mess hall" as the students had deemed it after one class had rebelled and started a food fight during lunch (or so the legend went), was as plain as any other cafeteria in any other school in the world: Basically just a large, rectangular box, it held long tables with uncomfortable wooden chairs enough to seat every student in the school at once. Well, it had to, because all of the meals were scheduled for one set time during the day. The room was monitored by every last one of the teachers, and the Sins.

This wasn't their official name, of course, just a nickname that some nameless student years before had come up with that just so happened to stick. Their official titles were Guardians, but they each had these ridiculous code names based on the old idea of the seven deadly sins; hence where the nickname had come from.

Their basic function in the school was, as so many a student had joked, the glorified hall monitors. They patrolled the grounds of the school, day and night, seeking out troublemakers. Some students suggested that the Sins weren't human, with how well they spotted mischief; they seemed to see and know everything that went on at the school and appeared when you were certain that no one had been there just a moment ago.

Wrath, Gluttony, Lust, Greed, Envy, Sloth, and their leader, Pride.

These seven Guardians were in charge of punishing the students that disobeyed the rules. Until a more serious crime was discovered; then you were sent directly to the Head Mistress.

Alphonse had learned early on that it was probably better not to cross the Sins, and he was disconcerted to find that they were already at the door of the mess hall, watching the line of students waiting to go in for dinner.

He'd made the mistake of breaking a rule when he'd first come to the school, thinking no one would know; but, somehow, Envy had found out, and he'd spent the next three days in solitary confinement. He never did figure out how Envy had done it, but he'd learned his lesson: If he wanted to break a rule, he had to make absolutely _certain_, without a doubt, that no one could find out. Though he had yet to come up with a way to accomplish that.

Especially now with Envy deciding he needed to keep a close eye on him.

Which was exactly what he was doing as the line finally started moving into the cafeteria and Alphonse and Fletcher passed him by the door. The man gave him a truly vicious smile, eyeing him as he passed by, and the boy did his best to ignore him and the nervous glances Fletcher was giving him.

The two followed the line up to the sad excuse for a buffet in silence and then carried their trays to their usual table near the far corner of the room, trying to look as innocent as possible to the teachers and other Sins they passed.

The other students greeted them with little more than a nod or a smile as they took their seats.

"How'd you do on your math test, Fletcher?" Russell was Fletcher's older brother and he looked it. His hair was only a shade or two lighter blonde, and their eyes were the same shade of blue, like the river that shut them all in. He was just as old as Alphonse, but truly tall for his age, and possibly a little too old as well.

Fletcher blushed at the question, but answered obediently, "Not so well, but Alphonse promised to help me, right?"

The boy blinked at his roommate and had a mind to correct him about his name again, but figured it would all be for naught anyway. Let Fletcher call him whatever he felt comfortable with, he would anyway.

"That's right," Alphonse nodded and turned to Russell, "I did pretty well on the test, and I don't mind helping him."

"And what are you getting in return?"

Both boys blinked at Russell in confusion. They hadn't talked about Fletcher doing anything for Alphonse in return...because the thought hadn't crossed their minds. The taller boy could read this easily on the others' faces.

"Equivalent Trade, Alphonse. You can't just do something for Fletcher without getting something back; then it leaves him in your debt."

Alphonse was completely taken aback by that and, though he understood the logic in it, he wasn't really comfortable taking _anything _from his roommate when he'd only asked for a little help with one of his classes. But before he got the chance to interject, the girl sitting beside Russell stabbed him with her spork.

"Cut it out, Russell. You know you shouldn't talk like that. What if someone heard you? You wanna get stuck in solitary confinement again?"

"Geez, Winry! You didn't have to _stab_ me. Besides, no one heard; and it's not like I'm actually _doing _anything. They can't punish us for _talking_."

"They can, and they _have_. You know that, Russell."

The older boy sighed in defeat, still rubbing his arm where Winry had poked him. She was right, he knew she was right. The problem was, she _also_ knew she right.

And she also noticed the way Russell kept rubbing at his arm. With a devious grin to the others, the girl pressed up against the younger boy's side, fingertips dancing over the "wound" as she batted her eyelashes at him. "Awwwwww," she cooed in her best baby voice, "Ith wittle Wuthell hurted? Doeth he want Winwy to make it allllllll better?"

The other kids snickered as Russell turned a shade of red more familiar on his brother. It was the dark girl sniggering to Winry's side that changed the conversation again.

"Whoa. Speaking of 'little,' look who's finally back."

Suddenly everyone's attention turned away from the two blondes, all of them following Panina's gaze to the wooden double doors at the entrance to the cafeteria.

It seemed Pride, himself, who wasn't often seen with the other Sins, had taken it upon himself to escort a student down. Another blonde, who looked like he was probably in the elementary school, though, even from so far away, Alphonse could see those mysteriously golden eyes were older than the boy appeared to be.

Conversation continued, if slightly subdued, throughout the rest of the cafeteria, but Alphonse's friends had suddenly gone silent, watching the new boy and the oldest Guardian. Or...Alphonse _assumed _he was new; but the way his friends were watching him, he got the impression that they knew him somehow. But he'd never seen the boy before, and surely if the others knew him, then he would have recognized him too.

It finally became too much when Panina shoved her tray over to the seat next to him and crawled under the table only to reappear in said seat.

"Hey, guys," he asked finally, "Who is that?"

Fletcher was the only one that even _looked_ as if he was going to answer, "That's Edward."

Alphonse glanced back at the boy and then back at his roommate. "So you _know_ him?" A nod. "But...how? I've never seen him before."

"He's been in solitary confinement," Russell explained without looking away from this Edward boy.

Alphonse thought about that for a few moments but shook his head. "That still doesn't explain how I've never seen him."

"Al," Panina turned to him, holding his gaze and trying to make him understand, "You haven't seen him, because he's been in solitary confinement."

Realization slowly began dawning on the boy. "He's been in solitary confinement," he clarified, "At least since I came here?"

Both Fletcher and Panina nodded solemnly, while Winry and Russell watched Edward's slow progression towards their table.

Alphonse was still having trouble believing it. "That kid, Edward or whatever, was in solitary confinement for a _month_?"

This time, the blonde let his friends' lack of answer, answer him, and he too turned to watch the strange boy head straight for their table, with Pride at his back. As they reached the students' table, Edward turned down it, the Sin remaining at the head and watching the boy until he'd sat down in the chair Panina had vacated.

No one said a word, watching Pride as he made his way back out of the cafeteria, making even the teachers nervous as he passed them by. When he finally passed through the wooden doors, pausing only a moment to exchange a few words with Envy who grinned over at them, the group finally settled down some and shifted attention to the blonde who had finally joined them.

They all watched him as he began eating, though no one dared say a word, perhaps too afraid of what might happen, or unsure of even what to say. It was Edward who finally broke the silence, though he seemed unaware of it anyway, "Hey, Win, y'gonna eat that?"

Winry glanced down at her semi-stale roll and shook her head; but before she had the chance to lift her hand to give it to him, the blonde had already bitten off half of it.

But it worked, whatever spell that had been cast by his arrival was suddenly broken, and the others soon began returning to their meals.

"You always stuff your face whenever you come back," Panina pointed out laughing, "What, do you just not _eat_ while you're down there?"

"I don't blame him; we may get leftovers up here, but down there it's only _leftovers_ of leftovers."

Everyone grimaced at Russell's evaluation, even Fletcher who'd never actually been to solitary confinement himself.

Edward, however, just grunted noncommittally around a mouthful of semi-stale roll and fake mashed potatoes. "Too busy thinking."

It was at that moment that the newcomer seemed to finally realize the presence of someone he didn't know. Alphonse figured it was probably because he'd been all but staring at the other blonde since he'd come into the room, fascinated by this person who'd been in solitary confinement since Alphonse had first come to this school, and claimed to have been too busy thinking while there to eat the sad excuse for food that they'd provided him with.

He found himself looking into sharp golden eyes that somehow seemed to hold the knowledge of the world in them, though this boy couldn't have been much older than Fletcher. Yet they measured him, just by looking in his _own _eyes, and it sent a shiver down the taller boy's spine. It wasn't unpleasant, and yet it wasn't wholly pleasant either -- it just _was_ -- and still Alphonse found he had to turn away, dropping his eyes to his tray as he poked around the unidentifiable food with his spork for something semi-edible.

"Who're _you_?"

Alphonse was taken aback by the rudeness of the question, asked as if he had no right to be at the table, but just as he was about to retort, Fletcher cut in.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Edward, this is Alphonse. He's my roommate."

"Roommate, huh?" the smaller boy asked, those same yellow eyes now traveling up and down what they could see of the stranger, though not showing any reaction to the slight frown on Alphonse's face. "You new?"

"Not anymore," this time it was Panina who'd spoken up, "Maybe if you'd spend more time up here with the rest of us, you'd _know_ that."

This was it, Alphonse waited for the expected question to come... But Edward just snorted and turned back to his dinner. This boy, whom he'd only known for a total of about seven minutes, somehow was the strangest person he could ever remember meeting. It wasn't that Alphonse wasn't _relieved_ not to have to share his story again with yet someone else, but all of the students he'd met up to that point had all asked the same question upon meeting him: "So, what'd _you_ do?"

He just couldn't figure out why Ed hadn't, though he didn't seem to be particularly interested in anything else anyway. But, then again... Of course Alphonse didn't really want to recount why he was here _again_ but, perhaps he wasn't the only one. Maybe the reason Edward didn't ask him, was because he didn't want to be asked either...

Just as he was starting to begin to think he understood the smaller boy, though, Edward caught him staring and scowled, "_What_?"

No, Alphonse decided, he just wasn't interested.

The rest of dinner was spent in mostly friendly conversation, both Edward and Alphonse doing their best to ignore each other's existence while everyone else seemed to do their best to try and respect that, for the time being. Winry and Russell updated Edward on everything he'd missed while he'd been "away," while Alphonse took a napkin and pencil and started showing Fletcher how to do some of the problems that had been on their test. Panina jumped back and forth between conversations, interjecting bits of information here and corrections there. The conversations were finally broken up when a bell sounded throughout the school indicating that it was seven o'clock, and their dinner hour was over.

The students were dismissed table by table to keep the confusion and traffic jams to a minimum. The four blondes and Panina were the last to be dismissed, farthest from the door as they were. The Guardians had already left to begin their patrols of the rest of the campus, and most of the teachers had departed with the other students to escort them back to either the dormitories or the library (the only two approved locations to be during the two-hour time between dinner and curfew).

Last to leave, as always, was a young handsome teacher; an object of lust for those interested, and loathing for those not. Blessed with naturally good looks and a deep sensuous voice and charming smile that could melt anyone within viewing range, it was a mystery to everyone why he taught a subject so cold and unfeeling as math. And yet, the majority of the students you would ask would say that their favorite subject was his. The man's students was basically split into four categories: Those that did well so they could earn his attention, those that did well to show him up, those that faked not understanding the material so that they could ask him for help, hopefully in the form of a private tutoring session, and those that faked not understanding simply to spite him.

Five sets of eyes lit on this man as he made his way over to their table, one hand resting in his pocket while the other reached inside of his jacket to retrieve, what appeared to be, several sheets of paper.

"My, my, Edward," he purred, walking straight up to the boy, black eyes dancing as he fiddled with the papers in his hands, "So nice of you to return to us. I believe this is yours."

"Bastard. How'd you know I was back today?"

The man just smirked as the test was yanked from his hand. "Now, you mustn't use such vulgar language, Edward. We wouldn't want you to end up in punishment yet again."

"Yeah, whatever," the blonde grumbled, shoving the test into his pocket and leaving the rest of his friends behind as he headed towards the door.

The dark-eyed man just smirked after him before turning to the remaining students. "Alphonse, I hear you're to be tutoring Fletcher, is that correct?"

Flushing a bit at the question, he quickly nodded, impressed for not the first time at his teacher's seeming psychic abilities, "Y-yes, Master Mustang; if-...if you don't mind...?"

Mustang chuckled low in his throat in a way that made the blonde feel as if he were just a little boy again and had said something amusing without realizing it. "Of course I don't mind, Alphonse. In fact, I have no doubt that, with your help, Fletcher will be passing _all_ of his tests up to graduation."

Both boys sank slightly into their seats, trying to hide their reddened faces. Luckily, Winry decided to take that moment to try and bring Mustang's attention to _her_.

"Master Mustang," the girl said, clearing her throat a bit and doing nothing to hide the attractive flush on her cheeks, "I was wondering if we could go over the homework from the other day. I didn't really understand all of it."

Russell, whose arm had settled around Winry's shoulders at some point during the meal, quickly withdrew it, a look of disgust on his face as he listened to her flirt with the teacher _again_. Panina seemed to feel the same way as she crossed her arms and focused her attention impatiently on the door, as if willing it to come closer and force them all out.

"Well, Winry," Alphonse heard Mustang answer, "It seems that a majority of your classmates didn't understand the homework, so we'll be going over it again in class tomorrow."

Winry looked decidedly disappointed, while Russell looked like he was trying to hide a look of triumph. It worked better after the girl elbowed him in the side.

Mustang finally stepped back and gestured towards the door, officially dismissing the group, though Winry was the last to leave.

"I have some work to attend to," the man called once they'd all passed through the double doors, "I trust I can count on all of you to head straight to your dorms, correct?" Of course his expression clearly stated that he knew they wouldn't have even _thought_ of heading anywhere else anyway. Nevertheless, they all nodded, and Mustang headed down the corridor in the opposite direction; presumably, Alphonse thought, towards his office.

Conversation started up again as the five friends made their way from the cafeteria in the secondary building to the dormitories in the third. They occasionally stopped to talk with other familiar faces as they walked, but they didn't separate until they came to the fourth floor, where the boys' rooms were.

Goodbyes were exchanged and promises to meet the next day for breakfast, at the usual table, and then the girls continued up the stairs to the ninth floor, leaving Alphonse with the two brothers.

Once they were left to their own devices, any conversation had died down, both Russell and Alphonse falling into their own thoughts, and Fletcher not daring to disturb either of them. He didn't know what Russell was thinking about, but Alphonse couldn't get his mind off of that Edward kid.

Who the heck was he? Had he really not eaten a thing the three weeks he'd been in solitary confinement? What in the world had he done that had sent him to solitary confinement for three weeks in the _first_ place? And, for that matter, why was _here_?

Alphonse was tempted to ask Russell, as he had in the past proven himself the most knowledgeable of what was going on at the school, but at the same time, he'd also seemed very closed-mouthed about Edward, with what little he'd been asked already. But Fletcher seemed to know at least _something_ about him, so Alphonse said goodnight to Russell and then waited until he and the younger boy were back in their room to finally ask.

"Hey, Fletcher?" He waited until the younger boy turned around to continue, "What's that kid's story? Edward?"

The younger boy looked almost like a puppy as he tilted his head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Oh, there were so many things that Alphonse could have answered that with, but maybe it would be best to stick to one question at a time. There was no way that Fletcher could know anything about what Edward had done while he'd been in solitary confinement, and it would probably be rude to ask him, or anyone besides Edward himself, why he'd been sent to the school. So that really only left him with one question to ask.

"Why was he sent to solitary confinement for so long? I don't think I've seen anyone get punished for more than a few days while I've been here."

Fletcher turned pink, turning away under the pretense of taking his pajamas out of his trunk. "Oh, I don't know," he mumbled, trying so hard to sound uncaring, "Why does he _ever_ get sent down? I mean, Russell always jokes around that Edward spends more time in solitary confinement than he does in _class_."

It was a lame attempt at a joke, and both boys knew it; Alphonse just couldn't understand why his roommate was so uncomfortable all of a sudden. What exactly had Edward done?

"He really gets into trouble a lot?"

"Yeah, Winry's always saying how he's a glutton for punishment and he probably does it on purpose."

"On purpose?" Alphonse asked disbelievingly, "Why would he get into trouble on purpose?"

"I don't know," Fletcher answered, buttoning up his pajama shirt, "Panina says that he's just trying to get on the Head Mistress' nerves or that-..."

The way the younger boy clapped his hand over his mouth, Alphonse realized that whatever Fletcher was about to say, he hadn't meant to, and that seemed more promising than anything _else_ he'd told the older boy.

"Or that what?" Alphonse prompted, watching his roommate carefully.

The entire back of Fletcher's neck was nearly _purple_ he was blushing so much, and the next words came out of his mouth in such a rush, Alphonse had to run it through his head a few times before he was able to pick apart the words, "That he's meeting one of the Guardians down there and-... Well-... Y'know..."

'Y'know'? He knew? It took the blonde a second to make the connection between his roommate's flushing and his vague answer, and he found himself blushing himself. Of course _Panina_ had said that.

Turning to his own trunk, Alphonse sighed and forced the frustration out of his voice so that Fletcher wouldn't think he was angry with him. He really wasn't; he was annoyed with Edward, for being so damn _mysterious_.

"Fletcher, could you please stop telling me what everyone _else_ keeps saying about him? I just want to know what he did to get punished for so long."

"Alphonse..."

There was a certain tone in the younger boy's voice that caught his attention more than anything. Fletcher had been nervous before, that was just a part of his personality, but Alphonse had never heard him sound..._scared_. The expression on the boy's face, he saw when he turned around, was almost pleading in its uneasiness, and Alphonse found himself at a loss for words, just waiting to hear what the other boy wanted to say.

"Alphonse, I don't know," Fletcher reiterated, wringing his hands in front of him and, though his eyes darted away, they always returned to his roommate's. "I asked Russell when it happened, but he just told me that it wasn't for me to get involved in and he didn't want me asking again. I know he knows, but, Alphonse... I don't think you should ask him either; I don't want you to get in trouble."

A long silence stretched between them, and Alphonse very nearly crossed the room to gather the younger boy in his arms, he looked so scared. He decided to settle, however, on simply smiling reassuringly, and accepting his warning, "Alright, I promise I won't ask him."

The relieved smile that answered him just about lit up the room; but still, despite the warning and his roommate's anxiety, all Alphonse could think as the two boys got ready for bed, was the same thing that had been running around his head since dinner had ended:

Who was this Edward kid?

_To be continued..._


	3. Chapter 2: More Questions

**Notes: **I don't usually like to do this, so I'll make it quick. I just want to thank everyone who's reviewed so far; it's nice to see so much enthusiasm for this story, it makes me really want to actually write now with my own characters. And don't worry, all of your questions will be answered in time, you just have to be patient. :)

* * *

**Chapter 2: More Questions**

_Winry curled up against Panina's shoulder as the dark girl and Russell tried to comfort her; and Fletcher, to the other side of the small chapel, sat in Master Mustang's lap as he used the man's tie as a handkerchief._

_Alphonse was touched that they had all come, really; even Head Mistress Dante was standing in the back next to a tall older man with glasses that the boy didn't recognize. True, she had forced everyone to wear their uniforms, even those that hadn't gone to the school, but it only meant he was looking at a sea of grey instead of black. Well, it had been grey before, but someone must have washed them funny or something because, when Alphonse looked up again, they were yellow instead. But, he supposed, it didn't truly matter; yellow was still just as somber as black, and fitting for this somber occasion._

_The entire company settled down as Alphonse approached the podium at the front of the small building, his own suit a black spot among the bright sea of yellow. He almost felt a little out of place and, seeing the black casket set in a place of honor at the front of the middle aisle, the blonde couldn't help but wonder if the occupant felt the same way._

_"Thanks for coming, everyone," he finally began, "I know the deceased would have liked to know that you all came." Not that they'd all _known _the deceased, but they'd come, and that was what was important. "I think it's time you all paid your last respects."_

_All at once, everyone sitting in the pews stood and began filing into the middle aisle. Winry was first and, sobbing, quickly dropped a pen into the casket and rushed away with her hands covering her face. Fletcher and Russell were next and offered up a loaf of bread. Panina gave her steel automail arm and Mustang a pair of emerald cufflinks._

_Alphonse was nearly brought to tears by the display of love and, once the others had all disappeared, he approached the casket himself. Each step that brought him closer to the casket also brought him closer to crying and by the time he was standing before it, he was sobbing nearly as badly as Winry._

_The bells of the chapel were ringing above him, but the blonde refused to listen as he pushed aside an arrangement of ferns and dead flowers so he could get closer._

_Edward looked positively angelic, his long blonde hair fanned out beneath him, expression that of a sleeping child, and the white suit they'd dressed him in blending in perfectly with the white satin lining the casket._

_As the bells continued to ring overhead, Alphonse thought he heard something underneath the sound; something quieter, and not quite as musical as the bells. It was growing louder, and, for a reason he couldn't place, it was making Alphonse incredibly nervous. Finally, he was able to place the sound as someone calling his name, and his heart began to race. He wished Edward would just wake up already, because he didn't want to be alone when he finally turned around and faced whoever was calling his name._

_And then he felt a hand on his shoulder...

* * *

_

"Alphonse! Wake up!"

The blonde swore his heart had exploded of shock right there in his chest as he jerked awake. The hand was still on his shoulder, and the voice was still calling his name, and those damned bells were still ringing, and hadn't Edward woken up _yet_?

"Alphonse, are you alright?"

"Fletcher?"

The mattress depressed slightly as the younger boy sat down on he edge of Alphonse's bed, and he seemed to be trying to give something to the older boy.

A tissue, Alphonse realized as he finally managed to force his eyes open. The 'why' he could tell from the moist feeling of his cheeks and he quickly wiped them off with the tissue as he sat up and mumbled a 'thank you.'

"I thought you were having a nightmare," the younger boy admitted a bit abashedly. "Besides, it's time to get up anyway. The morning bells just rang, so we gotta hurry if we want to meet the others and get to the cafeteria before the line gets too long."

Alphonse smiled at his roommate as they both got up from his bed and moved to their respective trunks, the older boy making a detour to the waste bucket first to throw out the tissue.

"It wasn't a nightmare," he blurted for a reason completely unknown to him as he sorted through his clothes for a clean uniform.

"Oh? Then...what was it about?"

The older boy realized that Fletcher had at least learned _some _tact; he didn't want to come out and ask why he'd been crying.

He took a few moments to work through his thoughts and the details of what he remembered of the dream, and immediately decided that Fletcher didn't need to know all of them. "It was...strange," was the description Alphonse finally settled on, which was true enough. "I don't really remember it that well, except that you and the others were there; and your uniforms were yellow."

That last was added jokingly, though he thought the first half was rather strategic, he thought. After all, "the others" could be anyone. Which led Alphonse to present _himself _with a question: Why in the world was he dreaming about Edward? And _crying _over his death, no less?

* * *

Fletcher seemed to have accepted the older boy's explanation (or at least that Alphonse wasn't ready to talk about it) and, within a few minutes' time, they were locking up their dormitory and buttoning up their blazers.

The two had to pass Russell's room on their way and Fletcher stopped to knock on the door to see if his brother had already left or not. There was an unintelligible shout from inside and both boys took that as a sign that Russell was still there, so they waited.

Nearly ten minutes went by before there was any other sign of life come from within the room, and, finally, the door flew open and Alphonse found himself against the wall on the opposite side of the hall, and trapped by the very face that had been central to his dream the night before. The scowl on Edward's face, however, was not _nearly _as attractive as the expression he'd been wearing when he was dead.

"Damnit, Russell! What the hell is your problem? You don't go around shoving people like that!"

"Calm down, Ed," the taller boy retorted coolly, closing the door to their room and tossing the key to his fuming roommate to lock up. "No one shoved you, I merely helped you out the door, seeing as you seemed to be having a problem in that area."

Without even waiting to hear the furious response, Russell started down the hallway, gesturing for Alphonse and Fletcher to follow. Alphonse was having a bit of trouble paying attention, however, inordinately angry at the fact that Edward had dared be pushed into _him_, and then get upset about it. Oh, he knew it made absolutely no logical sense, but at least he admitted it.

Edward, in the meantime, seemed to be fighting with the key and the lock. It crossed the younger boy's mind to help, and then make a snarky comment about being too long in solitary confinement to remember how to lock a door, but he realized how completely uncalled for that was, no matter _how_ irrationally angry he felt. It wasn't as if it was Edward's fault that he'd shown up in Alphonse's dream and made him cry, after all.

Still, he'd get revenge somehow.

"Hey, guys! Wait up, wouldja?"

Pulled out of his musings, Alphonse suddenly found himself alone in front of Russell's dormitory and looked to his left only to see that the three blonde heads of his friends (and Edward) were bobbing halfway down the hall. A quick sprint easily caught him up to the others, though the resounding silence told him he hadn't really missed anything, and the lack of conversation continued as they waited in the stairwell for Winry and Panina.

"Well, well, look who decided to join us?" the dark girl purred in low mockery of a male voice, dropping her eyes lazily as she sauntered up to Edward. She leaned in close and, allowing her friends' snickering to egg her on, Panina made as if she were going to kiss the blonde, only to veer up at the last moment and nip the tip of his nose.

All but Alphonse burst into laughter, though he did have to discreetly hide his smile behind his hand.

"Ha. Ha," the short blonde muttered, rubbing his nose and leading the way down the stairs. "It's been a _month_ and you _still _haven't found any new material?"

"Now why should I come up with new material when you two give me plenty of material with the _old_ material?"

"There _is _no 'old material,' and never _was_," Edward retorted, "Just _your_ overactive and perverted imagination."

Alphonse, though still discreetly amused by the joke that he didn't quiet get, turned to nearest person for a little help.

"Panina's convinced that Master Mustang has been flirting with Ed," Winry explained, her expression a strange mix of amusement, simple indulgence, and hopefulness that the theory wasn't true.

"With good reason," Russell added, the smirk clear in his voice, which just made the blonde in question explode, turning on his roommate with a furious scowl and an obvious blush.

"And what's that supposed to mean!" Edward demanded, everything in his body language promising death for the wrong answer; or _any_ answer, really, that didn't include the words, 'I'm sorry, I'm mistaken. That bastard would never flirt with you because he's not only not interested, but too afraid to get his balls cut off,' in that order.

Russell seemed to take great pleasure out of ignoring the warning, however, simply smirking at his roommate and crossing his arms over his chest as if to say, "You can't really be _that_ dense."

Edward flushed again and growled, turning back down the stairs and muttering, "You're all insane."

The short boy stomped off into the depths of the stairwell, leaving the others behind, and Alphonse finally felt free to open his mouth, though he did make an effort to keep his voice down, "Hey, Russell. I didn't even know you _had_ a roommate."

"You never _asked_," the younger boy pointed out with a shrug, as if confused why Alphonse would be surprised by this at all.

"Well, he may as well _not _have a roommate, with how often _Ed's_ there."

"Quiet, Panina."

The girl just stuck her tongue out at Russell uncaringly.

Alphonse still had some questions, though: "So Edward gets in trouble that often?"

"Yup," Panina answered, paying no heed to Russell's warning glances. "Either that or he's off 'studying.' Well, _he _says anyway; but with the looks of his grades, I don't know what it is, exactly, that he's _studying_."

"But if he's such a problem, then why don't they kick him out?"

Panina seemed to be laughing too hard at the boy's question to answer, so Winry decided it was her turn to interject. "Kick him out and send him _where_, Alphonse?" she pointed out. "Ed's here for a reason, just like the rest of us. The only way they're getting rid of him is if he graduates or-..." The blonde flushed and everyone suddenly went quiet; once again Alphonse felt the hollowness of not knowing something apparently important.

"Or what?" he asked carefully, looking at each of his friends in turn; lastly Russell, who looked incredibly uncomfortable as he forced himself to answer.

"No matter where you go," the blonde murmured, "There will always be people that, no matter how many times you punish them, they just don't get it. People don't like troublemakers, Alphonse, which is why they build prisons; but prisons are only for adults, and, like it or not, adults aren't the only ones that commit crimes. No matter how you look at it, this place isn't _just_ a school and, just like a prison, they have to have a way to deal with troublemakers. Especially the ones that just don't get it."

A shiver slowly worked its way down his spine that felt more like an icy finger of foreboding. It didn't help that Fletcher and the girls were suddenly unnaturally silent and looking everywhere but at him. Alphonse knew that the warning was partially meant for him, but, for an unknown reason, he couldn't help but think that Russell had meant it for his roommate as well. The image from his dream of Edward lying in that casket came unbidden to Alphonse's mind, and it wouldn't leave him for the rest of the day.

* * *

Alphonse hadn't actually looked forward to math class a day in his life. Until he'd come to this school.

He didn't usually get crushes on his teachers, or even condone that sort of thing, but Master Mustang was just young enough that the blonde decided to make an exception. It was just a schoolboy crush, he knew, but they never hurt anyone, as long as you didn't take them seriously.

Mustang was probably in about his mid- to late-twenties, by Alphonse's estimation, and, though he obviously _knew _just how attractive he was and was a shameless bastard about it, he _still _managed to steal the heart of every student that had ever been attracted to the male gender. Oh, and then there was the fact that he was probably one of the most intelligent people that the boy had ever met. This, however, Mustang seemed to try and hide for reasons unknown to anyone that bothered to notice it; which wasn't too many people.

However, this didn't apply, it seemed, when it came to Edward.

To Alphonse's great dismay, it turned out that the desk in the left-hand corner of the front row that sat right in front of Mustang's desk, had been kept empty the entire month Alphonse had been there because it was _Edward's _seat. The taller blonde had been doing his best to ignore his new 'acquaintance's' existence entirely since breakfast, only to come into class and see _him_ sitting there.

"What are _you _doing here?" Alphonse had blurted without meaning to, and flushing slightly at his own rudeness.

Edward, however, had just leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers behind his head, "The same thing _you_ are, I assume."

"Wait," the boy objected, a little confused, "You're in _this_ math class?"

"Yeah, and?"

"But...I thought _Fletcher_ was the only advanced student in this class." Alphonse looked to his roommate for some sort of acknowledgement or explanation; and it came, just not from his roommate.

"I assure you, Alphonse, that Fletcher _is_ the only advanced student in this class."

All three blondes flushed as one at the sound of that voice, turning to the door to see their teacher standing there and smirking at his recently-returned student. "You see, Alphonse," Mustang continued, slowly making his way into the classroom and towards Edward, looking like a wild cat that knows that its prey is trapped, "Edward is not an advanced student; he's actually repeating this class for the third time."

Alphonse turned in shock to the boy sitting in the front row. The _third time_? Was this kid some kind of genius that he was even put _in_ the class so young?

Once again, Mustang seemed to read the boy's mind who wasn't entirely sure how to feel about the way the man's smirk widened. "I think I understand where the confusion came from. Edward _is_ quite _short_ for his age, after all."

Short for his age? The blonde turned to this new student (who looked about ready to murder Mustang), measuring him and trying to figure out what in the world their teacher was talking about. "How old _are_ you?"

Fifteen, he'd said. Edward was _fifteen years old_, a full year _older_ than Alphonse. And short for his age? That was the understatement of the _decade_. Edward was probably practically a legal _dwarf_ comparing his age to his height.

Well, at least it was something he could hold over the other blonde, Alphonse decided. He wasn't really sure why this pleased him so much, but the boy just got on his nerves and had done nothing since Edward had appeared to endear himself to the taller boy. If anything he seemed to be trying to go out of his way to irritate Alphonse, though the boy wasn't self-important enough to think that he was the only one that Edward was doing this to. He wasn't exactly popular among the students, Alphonse realized once he'd finally recognized people talking about the short blonde. Edward, apparently, did nothing to try and endear himself to _anyone_; so why were Panina, Winry, Fletcher and Russell friends with him?

Well, Russell he understood; after all, it wouldn't do to have a roommate you didn't get along with, and the younger blonde could put up with just about anything. Fletcher, of course, didn't like to not get along with _anyone_, especially if his brother did.

But what about Winry and Panina? They didn't seem the type to put up with some of the things Edward did, so why did they even _tolerate_ him? No matter how Alphonse looked at it, it just didn't add up.

He realized, when he heard the bells ring for changing class, that he hadn't been paying attention to the end of Mustang's lecture. It didn't matter anyway, Alphonse decided as he gathered his books; it seemed the baiting match that had begun between the man and Edward at the start of class, had lasted until the end anyway. _Really, do they have to be so childish?_ he wondered, rolling his eyes at the pair as he said goodbye to Fletcher.

* * *

Russell was in his physical activity period, though Alphonse wasn't entirely sure if he was glad about that on this particular day. Despite the fact that Edward was the most frustrating person the boy had ever met, he was still utterly _fascinated_ by him. There were so many questions he wanted answers to, but he wasn't willing to go to Edward to ask them. Russell, however, was free game, but he wasn't sure if the other boy would answer them, or if he'd like the answer; considering what he'd said this morning, Alphonse was pretty sure he wouldn't.

So, he tried to pay attention to what he was actually supposed to be doing, which was playing kickball. Well, they _would_ be playing kickball, if Master Armstrong would stop explaining the "honorable kicking technique passed down for generations in the Armstrong family!"

Alphonse sat with the rest of his classmates in what would eventually serve as the outfield as they tried not to fall asleep listening to their obscenely-muscular teacher explain the genealogical history of kickball in his family and trying not to go blind watching his bald head glitter under the harsh lights of the gymnasium.

Russell seemed to be filtering out the man's voice, either that or he'd fallen asleep with his eyes open; oddly enough, it wouldn't have been the first time. So Alphonse discreetly scooted across the floor the few feet separating them and poked the taller boy in the shoulder to make sure he was still conscious.

"Can I help you with something?" Russell asked quietly, turning to the other blonde with a raised eyebrow.

"I was just wondering," Alphonse murmured back, "Is Edward really older than us?"

"Yeah, why?"

"It's just...he's in my math class, and Mustang said he was repeating it for the third time..."

The taller boy rolled his eyes and turned back to Armstrong (who seemed to have finally gotten into the demonstration). "Yeah, well, he doesn't really get to class as often as he _should_."

"Because he's in trouble all the time...?"

"Look, Alphonse," Russell sighed, "If you really want to know about him, why don't you just ask him yourself? Just because I'm his roommate doesn't mean I know everything about him. I really don't know that much more than you do."

At that point, he stood and started walking towards the "field" that Armstrong had set up, along with the rest of the class. It seemed the lecture and demonstration was finally over and they could get around to actually playing. As Alphonse took his place at third base, however, his mind wasn't at all on the game.

Russell wanted him to ask Edward about him, instead of the people that knew him. But how was he supposed to do _that_ when the other boy seemed to resent his very existence? There had to be _some_ way to ask him without getting killed or simply humiliated. Or maybe he could just ask Winry and Panina.

* * *

The next day at lunch, the five friends found themselves alone once again; Winry had explained that Edward had been talking back to Master Gran during class and been given a lunchtime detention for it. She didn't really blame him for it, as the teacher wasn't, in _anyone's_ opinion, the best choice to teach an ethics and morality course, she just wished the boy would learn to keep his mouth shut.

Alphonse rather agreed with her. Gran was a hard man that seemed to live his life by the code, "The end justifies the means," even when the end was questionable in and of itself. He also happened to bear a striking resemblance to Master Armstrong, except with a darker complexion and mean eyes, and rumors abounded about twins separated at birth.

At least Armstrong _meant_ well, though; even if he terrorized the new students or became too enthusiastic and ended up hurting someone, it wasn't ever intentional. Gran, however, seemed to take some twisted pleasure out of making his students' lives miserable and stamping out any sort of self-esteem they might have had unless they actually agreed with his views.

"What exactly did he do _this_ time?" Panina asked the other girl, looking half-bored and half-eager for all of the juicy details.

"What _didn't _he do?" Winry answered, rolling her eyes as she dropped her cheek onto her hand and poked around the food on her tray. "Gran was doing another one of his lectures about how 'kids shouldn't play around with Alchemy' and Ed, being Ed, asked him why."

"What'd Gran say?"

"He just told him to look around. That there were 'over a hundred reasons right here in this building.'"

"Yeah...?"

Winry glanced at her roommate, realizing that she was waiting for her to go into the details, but not really feeling up to relating the whole discussion verbatim, so instead she met Panina halfway. "Well, basically Ed went into this whole thing about how we're only a small percentage of all the minors in the country and, if the laws weren't there to begin with then none of us would be here."

"And I bet Gran had a field day with that," Russell interrupted with a smirk, "Going on about how the laws are there for our protection and, if they weren't then there'd be kids running all over the place transmuting things left and right and causing utter chaos."

"As a matter of fact, he did," Winry responded with a blink before it turned into a scheming grin. "Alright, smartass. You know everything; then what did Ed say?"

Russell seemed to take a moment to savor his upcoming victory before he answered, to Winry's shock, "He asked -- well, _demanded_ -- that Master Gran give him one example of the chaos caused by minors studying Alchemy. And, when he couldn't, Ed pointed out that ninety percent of the kids here wouldn't even _be _here if it weren't for those laws, because they hadn't actually done anything wrong."

The entire group was silent, looking at Winry whose expression of surprise was proof enough that the boy had been right. Russell had always seemed somewhat psychic, but this was too much! She gawked helplessly at the taller blonde, unable to actually voice the question everyone wanted answered, "How did you know that?"

"We've had the conversation before," Russell shrugged, his entire countenance absolutely triumphant as he sagged back in his chair and let his hair fall over his eyes carelessly.

Alphonse was surprised, though not just at the other boy's powers of reasoning.

Another piece of the puzzle of Edward had been added, but the blonde was at a complete loss as to where it went. All of the answers he was receiving were just adding to the questions he already had. This boy, who was somehow a year older than Alphonse and yet nearly half a foot shorter, was a known troublemaker in the school. But not just any troublemaker, one that did such things that landed him in solitary confinement for three weeks straight, but no one knew what he'd done to be sent there in the first place; either that or they just didn't want anyone _else_ to know. He was in a math class he'd taken twice before because he keeps failing it, presumably because he was more often being punished than he was in class. He almost went out of his way to make himself unlikable, and yet he was friends with Alphonse's friends, _and_, despite all of this, he was intelligent enough to hold up debates against two decidedly intelligent teachers. The mere fact that he was even challenging an ethics and morality teacher showed that he _had_ ethics and morals, even if he gave off the appearance of the opposite, and, Alphonse had to admit, Edward had certainly brought up some interesting points that he'd never even _considered_.

Laws were there to protect them; that's what he'd always been taught, and what he'd believed. That was why he'd hesitated in the end, before he'd been sent here, giving his Mentor time to discover the boy's notes and stop him for good.

Alphonse knew that it was good that he'd been stopped -- knew that if he'd actually gone through with his plan then he would have regretted it -- but what about the rest of the students sent here? All of them had broken the laws against minor use of Alchemy somehow, but not all of them had done what _he_ nearly had. So who was to say that they even belonged here? Kids like Fletcher and Winry; they weren't bad people, and their crimes were so _trivial_ compared to some of the things the _other_ students had done to get here.

Well, Edward had done it again. Somehow, without even realizing it, the dwarf had monopolized Alphonse's thoughts for yet another day. Damn him.

_To be continued..._


	4. Chapter 3: Obsession

**Chapter 3: Obsession**

The next few days passed in mostly the same way: Alphonse and Fletcher would meet Edward and the others for meals, except when Edward did something to someone again and missed either lunch or dinner for detention. It happened nearly as often as Winry and Russell had joked and Alphonse couldn't help but wonder for the hundredth time, why Edward persisted.

It wasn't as if he didn't know the consequences of the things he did; in fact, the younger boy was beginning to think that, maybe, Winry's jokes about Edward getting in trouble on purpose might be true after all.

But _why_? Who would _want_ to be punished? Especially when, half the time, you were serving it one of the Sins.

After all this time passed, Alphonse still was no closer to understanding Edward. Some little bits of information were yielded as he listened to his friends and the other boy's baiting matches with Mustang; yet only more questions seemed to come of it. It was exhausting, Alphonse realized soon enough, spending so much of his energy on trying to figure out this boy, who he didn't even really _like _all that much; and he was sure his friends had noticed, or at least Fletcher had.

He was becoming distracted, from nearly everything, and it was most noticeable during math class. It was getting so bad that Alphonse found he was paying more attention to what Edward said and what Roy said _to _him, than the actual lesson itself, trying to overhear some bit of information; some other piece to the puzzle that _maybe_ he could finally try and put some of it together. He tried not to let it effect his grades, but there was a definite slip in the quality of his work.

"Wait a second, are you _sure _that's right?"

Fletcher slid his roommate's notebook back across the desk, pointing at the answer Alphonse had written. When he rechecked his worked, he realized Fletcher was right to doubt; the older boy had been _way_ off.

"Well, I guess that means you're getting better," he teased, knowing it was true but also knowing that wasn't why Fletcher had been able to correct him.

"Well," the younger boy blushed, "How could I _not_ with _your_ help?"

Alphonse smiled at him as he gave Fletcher back the notebook to correct, his own mind drifting to the conversation he'd overheard that morning between Russell and Edward at breakfast.

From what he understood, they'd been discussing the shorter boy's detention with Envy the night before. Edward had failed to show up to his scheduled meeting with his counselor and so he'd spent the two hours between the end of dinner and curfew serving detention with Envy. He seemed to be uncomfortable talking about it, if only because he appeared more irritable than _usual_, and he wouldn't give Russell any details about what had happened, only saying that they spent the time in one of the empty detention halls. Of course Russell, despite Alphonse's willing him to, didn't even _attempt_ to make him elaborate. And, when Alphonse had glanced toward the Guardian, standing halfway between their table and the door, he found the man grinning dangerously in their direction. It was all just too strange.

But maybe it was all just in his imagination? After all, there was nothing so bizarre as that which you knew nothing about. Maybe the only reason this boy had any significance at all to Alphonse was because he knew nothing about him. There was probably a perfectly boring logical explanation to all of this.

Yes, Alphonse decided, finally forcing his attention back to Fletcher and his questions; the only interesting thing about Edward was the lack of information he _had_ about him, and the number of people who _refused _to tell him anything about him. He didn't need to continue this desperate hunt for information and, with time, his interest would wane.

* * *

"You're obsessed."

"Look," Winry scolded her roommate, "Just because _you've_ got no interest in him doesn't mean that someone that _does_ is _obsessed_ with him."

"You're absolutely right," Russell agreed, much to Winry's approval...until he added, "But _you_? You're obsessed."

The blonde pouted at the two, even as her blue eyes darted to Mustang, who seemed to be watching Edward, his typical amused expression on his face. The short blonde was arguing with the lunch men, and had been for the past sixteen minutes.

Winry seemed to be in the process of denying both Panina and Russell groping privileges for the next month for ganging up on her when most of the cafeteria went quiet. Sloth had entered the room, Pride's quietly sensible and firm second-in-command. She had two young boys with her and, by the lost and vaguely frightened looks on their faces, were new ("fresh off the boat," the students joked). Sloth exchanged a few words with Envy at the door and then continued past him towards a smiling man who'd been talking with Mustang while the math teacher all but ogled Edward (Alphonse was unable to deny the assumptions after only two days of watching them together).

Maes Hughes, one of the counselors for the students, in charge of helping recoup rate these children who'd wavered from the correct path. And always ready with an interesting story about someone he'd run into that day (more often than not, Miss Gracia, the health advisor, whose office was directly and conveniently across the hall from Hughes' and for whom Hughes held a special place in his heart, and his stories).

The two boys were left with the exuberant man, and conversation seemed to start up again in the cafeteria once Sloth disappeared; and it wasn't until _she'd_ gone that Edward had finally returned and taken his seat at the table next to Winry looking unnaturally shaken. No one said a word to him.

Winry, however, turned her attention back to the two new boys, watching them for a while as Hughes recounted some story or other to them. He seemed to be scaring them to death, so she took it upon herself to save them.

"I'll be right back," she called over her shoulder as she quickly made her way towards the boys and Hughes. The counselor introduced Winry before she could herself and, as Alphonse watched the two new students (brothers maybe?) seemed to slowly relax.

He smiled fondly at the group, reminded of his own first day; though, with Fletcher as his roommate, he'd been brought directly over to the table instead of having to wait for someone to acknowledge his presence.

Winry led the boys over to get their food before, presumably, leading them back to the table.

"She's always taking in strays," Edward grumbled, proving that he _was _paying attention to something other than his food as he seemed to be trying to convince everyone.

"Yeah," Russell granted, "And _you_ oughtta be thankful for it."

Edward flushed but didn't respond.

Ah _ha_! Another puzzle piece!

So Winry had been the first to reach out to Edward when he'd come to the school for the first time? Granted, it wasn't quite the juice piece of information that Alphonse had been _hoping_ for that would finally bring everything all together, but at least it was _something_. And it proved that the shorter boy was _human_ and had normal emotions like the rest of them! Even though Alphonse had decided he'd stop digging, that didn't mean he couldn't pounce on any information that just so _happened_ to come his way.

As predicted, the two boys were led over to the table, their trays filled and hesitant smiles on their faces. They took two seats on Alphonse's side of the table, the taller next to Panina and the shorter next to him.

"Guys," Winry announced, "This is Rick, and his little brother, Leo. Rick, Leo, this is Panina, Alphonse, Fletcher, his older brother, Russell, and Edward. Rick's in your class, Fletcher, and Leo's going into fifth grade."

Everyone greeted them with a smile, nod, or wave, and Fletcher seemed _especially _excited with the news of a new classmate as the younger brothers smiled back sheepishly.

Panina eyed the boys carefully, turned sideways in her seat with her legs crossed and her elbow resting over the back of her chair. "Alright, let's get this over with. What're you boys in for?"

They seemed a bit surprised by the question, though understood after a moment of thought, and Rick, the older brother, spoke up for both of them while Leo just gazed forlornly into his corn, "We were studying Alchemy on our own..."

Leo seemed to want to hide under his tray, but since he couldn't do that, he settled on mumbling an excuse, as if it would help them _now_, "It wasn't on purpose. We didn't know how to find a Teacher; we don't know any, but we _really _wanted to study..."

Edward snorted, but didn't otherwise comment, and the young brothers looked a little fearfully at him.

"Don't worry," Fletcher assured them, "That's why Russell and I are here." The older boy only nodded his assent, but they seemed to be reassured.

"W-what about the rest of you?" Rick asked, feigning boldness.

"Well, there's apparently this stupid rule saying you need some official piece of paper if you want to sell transmuted stuff," Panina answered first, and _still_ not showing any remorse over it.

Winry blinked when five sets of eyes set on her, and flushed slightly, "Uh, yeah... I guess I was a little impatient about waiting for _my _teacher..." Russell cleared his throat and she glared at him before adding, "Several times."

The group chuckled and, seeming to gain some his _own_ courage, Leo leaned forward slightly to see past his brother and Panina to the blonde just beyond. "What about you, Alphonse," he asked, "Why are you here?"

That seemed to actually quiet the table and Alphonse knew that the others' eyes were on him. He tried to keep his smile on, but it felt a little forced.

"Well," he mumbled, looking around the table and seeing even Edward's eyes discreetly fastened on him. This surprised him; they hadn't exchanged stories when they'd first met, nor at any time since, and Alphonse had just assumed that he wasn't interested. But maybe he'd been mistaken? Edward certainly _seemed_ interested now, gazing at the taller blonde intently; but if he was so interested why hadn't he ever asked?

Alphonse thought back and remembered another theory he'd touched on before deciding the other boy just didn't care; that Edward didn't want to relate his _own _reasons for being there. Well then, if that was the case, then maybe Alphonse was feeling just a little bit spiteful. Why should Edward know his crime when Edward was unwilling to tell, _himself_?

There was just a hint of challenge in his eyes as the younger boy met Edward's gaze unwaveringly. He wasn't really comfortable telling people he barely knew about his mistakes again anyway, "My Teacher sent me here." His tone was final, with no question that there wouldn't be any further elaboration, and he turned back to his meal.

"Hey, Ed, wait a second; where're you going?"

"I'm not really hungry. Besides, I've got to meet with Hughes eventually anyway."

The short blonde walked with such purpose past the tables of students that they all seemed to shrink away from him as he passed. But Alphonse just kept his gaze determinedly on his tray. If Edward wanted to know, then let _him_ ask; it was about time that the tables be turned, and Alphonse felt thoroughly pleased with himself that he'd been able to do it.

* * *

Edward was _definitely _interested. In _something_, and the part that made Alphonse as pleased as pie was that it was something about _him_.

For the next two days, those golden eyes were stuck to him as if by some magnetic force (if gold were magnetic, that was). Suddenly, all of the mysteries and wonderings that had plagued the younger blonde's thoughts since he'd _met_ the shrimp were apparently swimming around Edward's head for a change. That, he decided, had been the right choice to make.

Edward was curious, about _Alphonse_, and it thrilled the boy like nothing else ever had, except, perhaps, when he'd activated his first array, or when he'd actually transmuted something recognizable. Suddenly, the older boy's eyes were on him whenever he wasn't looking, darting away _just_ as Alphonse peered over; his detentions were less frequent as well, instead he opted to actually _attend _mealtimes and spent them in decisive silence as the rest of the group chatted on about whatever fancied them at the time. The only time Edward opened his mouth was if someone made a smart remark about him that absolutely required a response to set the offender straight.

The younger boy couldn't help but wonder, as he enjoyed this power he seemed to have over the other, if this was how Edward had felt before. Had he enjoyed the torture he'd inflicted upon Alphonse? Or had he even _known_? Edward hadn't looked as if he'd enjoyed tormenting the blonde, but, then again, he was so good at hiding everything _else_...

Except just how much he _was_ watching Alphonse. Really, it was like he wasn't trying at _all_; or he just had no stealth skills whatsoever. At least Alphonse hadn't been _that_ obvious...had he? All that time he'd spent studying Edward and digging for information, _any_ information, about the other boy... Maybe he hadn't been as secretive as he'd thought? But surely someone would have called him on it, _especially _Edward.

Speaking of whom, had just startled Alphonse out of his thoughts by sending yet another wooden pellet flying at the blackboard right next to Master Mustang's head. The man barely twitched, however, and continued the lesson, carelessly kicking the little balls that had already fallen to the floor aside.

Edward seemed to be working overtime suddenly to annoy the hell out of their teacher, just barely avoiding crossing the line during their baiting match at the start of the period; and now these little pellets. Alphonse couldn't tell where he was getting them, or even how he sent them flying so fast that they left marks on the board. His first assumption was that it was Alchemy, but then Mustang would have been doing something about it, right? And, besides, he didn't see an array anywhere.

Finally, one of the wooden balls struck the back of Mustang's hand, _hard, _a fairly large one that even the students in the back of the room had heard; as well as the slight whimper of pain the man tried to stifle as he dropped the piece of chalk he'd been writing with.

His honor was saved by the ringing of the bells announcing the end of the period, and Mustang kept his back to the rest of the class as they quickly left, not wanting to bear witness to the undoubtedly ugly punishment that Edward received _this_ time.

"Edward, a word," he ground out, flexing his hand slightly to make sure nothing was broken or strained Alphonse assumed as he struggled against Fletcher's hand trying to drag him out of the room.

"Alphonse, you're going to be late," the younger blonde warned worriedly.

But he was too distracted to really care. "It's okay, Fletcher. I'll be fine, you have farther to go than I do; go ahead, you don't want to be late too."

The boy really didn't like the answer he'd received, but the distinctly distracted look in his roommate's eyes as he stared at the closed classroom door told him he wasn't going to budge anytime soon, and so Fletcher hurried away.

* * *

Alphonse couldn't really make out what was being said in the classroom through the closed door, but he _could_ tell that it wasn't good. They weren't quite yelling, but they weren't just talking like civilized human beings would. Just from what little he could hear of their inflections, both males were demanding something of the other, and neither were letting up.

He could make out a few things that sounded suspiciously like "bastard," "punish," "childish," and "manipulate." Though this hardly helped him put together the entire conversation.

Their voices gradually grew louder, however, as the minutes passed, and they didn't quiet even once the bells had rung for the beginning of the next period. It was escalating into an argument, and a fired one at that, and Alphonse could finally hear through the door:

"I will not play these games with you, Edward!"

"The only one playing games here is _you_, Mustang! What, do you want me to get down on my knees? I bet you'd _like_ that, wouldn't you?"

"Get out!"

"Oops, did I cut a little too close to home?"

"_Get_. _Out_!"

The door swung open and Alphonse found himself looking down at Edward, with a furious Roy standing at his desk. They were all three of them frozen to the spot, almost in shock, and it was, of course, Edward who finally broke the spell.

"Well, shit," the shorter boy smirked, pushing roughly passed the other blonde in the doorway to slowly meander his way to the middle of the hall, "Just who the hell do you have to _screw_ around here to get something done?"

A warning "Edward" came from back inside the classroom, but neither boy heard it, focused entirely as they were on each other. Alphonse was nearly in a trance as he watched the other boy, the expression on his face almost a twisted sort of challenge, and the blonde barely realized what happened next as it made absolutely _no_ sense compared to what he knew about Alchemy up to that point in his life.

Standing in the middle of the hallway with his palms pressed together as if he were praying, Edward closed his eyes in concentration. When they opened again, a blue spark ran over his body, flickering out from his palms and then winding it's way over his arms, down his torso, down his legs, and then it shot out over the floor, climbing the walls. Alphonse could feel the Alchemical reaction crackling around him, making his hair stand on end at the sheer _power_ behind it.

The entire school building, primary, secondary, and third, were covered in the blue lightning; he didn't have to look out of the window to tell this as, a moment later, the structure groaned and shifted right beneath his feet. Alphonse struggled to keep his balance as an earthquake seemed to erupt within the school, but it only lasted a minute or so, and when those fearsome eyes flicked away from him for a mere second, that was the only warning the younger blonde received before Edward was on his back with a knee to his throat and one of his hands pinned to the floor beside him.

"Nice work, Wrath," a mocking voice commended the youngest Guardian, and Alphonse didn't have to turn around to know Envy had followed the long-haired young man. "Ah, if it isn't the Half-pint. You should know by now, Pipsqueak, that you brats aren't allowed to perform Alchemy. You lost that privilege when you came here."

A most likely insulting retort was strangled by the knee at the boy's throat, much to the amusement of the elder Guardian. "What were you trying to do, Runt? Shrink the building so that you'd seem taller?"

At some point, Alphonse had backed away from the scene, hitting the wall beside Mustang's classroom door, and a quiet gasp unfortunately alerted the Sins to his presence. If he could have gotten away with it, he would have transmuted a hole in the wall behind him to escape; but either he would have been caught, or he would have been thrown out of the twelve-story window, he wasn't sure. He still hadn't figured out the Guardians' policy on killing students, and he had no desire to find out personally.

"Well, would you look who it is," Envy purred, walking, unfortunately towards the other boy as Wrath dragged Edward from the floor by his collar. The man slowly advanced on Alphonse, trapping him against the wall. "I don't suppose _you_ had anything to do with this, eh, Blondie?"

"I saw what happened, Envy. Alphonse had nothing to do with this; leave him alone."

_Oh, god, if you really do exist, _thank you

The boy couldn't have been happier to hear Mustang's voice that at that moment, and Envy's attention was gratefully taken off of him in favor of the teacher who didn't even _flinch_ as the Guardian stalked up to him.

"Then perhaps," Envy nearly muttered, "You can tell me."

"Were you inside the school at the time?" Mustang asked, his voice clipped and impatient and he barely waited for the other man to answer positively before he continued, "Then you know what happened."

Envy scowled hideously at him, before simply turning away and quickly disappearing down the corridor, Wrath following him without having to be ordered, and Edward being dragged along after, smirking at Alphonse as he passed.

"Alphonse..."

The boy barely registered his name being said, turning to the sound of it almost dumbly, his eyes lighting on the bruise blossoming on the back of his teacher's hand. "Oh, you should go to the Infirmary and have Miss Gracia look at your hand..."

Mustang sighed, rubbing at his eyes with his thumb and middle finger before smiling exhaustedly at the blonde. "Perhaps you would do me the favor of coming with me, Alphonse?"

"But..." Alphonse stuttered, his mind still confused and trying to work through what had just happened, almost completely oblivious to the present, "Class... I have to..."

"Yes, I know. I'll straighten things out with your teacher; but there's something I want to talk to you about."

_To be continued..._


	5. Chapter 4: The End of the World

**Chapter 4: The End of the World**

There were surprisingly very few faces peering out of the classroom doors, taking into account what had just transpired, as Alphonse and Mustang slowly made their way down through the primary building to the Infirmary in the secondary. It was quiet, unnaturally so, with the exception of the constant murmuring of the classes going on, and Alphonse couldn't imagine how they all had kept so calm after what he'd just witnessed upstairs.

Even Mustang seemed calmer than he should be, and he kept glancing somewhat worriedly at the boy until the shock finally receded enough for him to speak. "He's incredible..."

"Edward?" the man clarified sounding vaguely amused, "Yes, he is. Probably one of the most talented students I've seen come through this school. Though Alchemical skill _is_ hard to gauge in an Alchemy-free environment."

"How did he do that?" Alphonse mumbled, seeming only half aware that Mustang was even there. "There was no array; and he was moving the entire _building_. The power he'd have to have to do that..."

"No one knows how he does it," Mustang explained, his voice dropping significantly, "Only him, but he's told no one. However, he isn't the only one I've ever witnessed that was able to perform a transmutation without the need of an array."

The blonde's attention seemed to have been caught, and he looked wonderingly up at his teacher, amazed that there were not only other people in the world with this ability but that this man had witnessed more than one of them.

Mustang just smirked at the expression on the boy's face and turned his gaze back to the corridor before them, "How long have you known Edward, Alphonse?"

"Not that long," he answered, "Maybe a month and a half?"

"I've known him for a little over five years, and yet he still manages to come up with ways to surprise me."

The boy was astonished, "Five years?" he asked, "He's been here that long?"

Mustang nodded, gingerly prodding the dark spot growing on the back of his hand as he continued, "I remember the day well. He was the only new student that wasn't brought over by Mason; the boat rower," he clarified to Alphonse's puzzled look. "He was escorted personally by the Head Master."

"Head _Master_?"

"Yes, that's right. He was the co-founder of this school, along with Head Mistress Dante. He disappeared shortly after that, however, and wasn't terribly involved with the school in the first place. There aren't many students still around that remember him, or even knew about him, so I'm not surprised that you've never heard of him."

They came to the end of the hallway they'd been walking down and Mustang opened one of the double doors that led to the stairwell, holding it until Alphonse had passed through. Their conversation echoed unnervingly in the tunnel-like shaft, but the blonde wasn't about to cease talking just out of fear that someone might overhear something they shouldn't; not when he was finally getting some valuable information!

"What was his name?" he asked, wondering if maybe he might have overheard a rumor but forgotten, "And why did he leave?"

"Hohenheim. I don't know why he left."

Well, that didn't help at all. It didn't really matter, though, Alphonse supposed; some mysterious former Head Master that had left for five years before the blonde had even _heard_ of the school didn't really interest him.

"What about Edward?" he asked, shifting the focus of the conversation back to what had sparked it in the first place, "Why was he sent here?"

At long last, the blonde thought, meeting Mustang's gaze, he was going to get a real answer. Because surely _Mustang_, Mister Knows-All Sees-All, himself, would know what the older boy had done to, not only be punished with this place, but be escorted personally by the former Head Master.

"I'm afraid I don't know."

_You can't be serious!_

"It is not my place to delve into my students' histories, Alphonse," the man scolded gently, seeing the blonde's countenance droop. "I have what's considered, I believe, a 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy when it comes to these things. Your reasons for being here are your own; you don't have to tell me, and I won't ask. That information is between yourself, the Head Mistress, your counselor, and whoever else _you _want to confide in. If you want to know why Edward is here, you'll have to ask _him_."

As comforted as Alphonse was to hear that Mustang didn't go snooping into their records, he couldn't help but be disappointed as well. He'd really been hoping to finally get an answer, but the only one he'd received was the same one he'd gotten from Russell. You'd think that in a place filled with criminals, there'd be _someone_ who knew what the older blonde had done and be willing to tell. A little voice at the back of his head told Alphonse that he probably wouldn't want to associate with such a person anyway, but he tried to ignore it.

"However," Mustang continued, oblivious to his student's inner-dispute, "That is what I wished to talk to about, Alphonse."

The blonde looked up, surprised by the statement and found that they'd stopped in the corridor that connected the primary and secondary buildings. He wondered if the man had planned it this way, not wanting anyone to overhear; during classes, there was _no one_ in these corridors, and two pairs of heavy wooden doors locked you in on either side, muting any conversation that might be overheard. It was as private as they were likely to get while still remaining on Yock Island.

"I've noticed you two seem to have taken an interest in each other. I know you share mutual friends, but I suggest you not become involved with Edward."

Alphonse stared wide-eyed at the man, not sure where this was coming from. "What do you mean, 'involved'?" he asked, trying to clarify, "And _why_?"

As much as the older boy wasn't likeable in the _least_, he didn't see why someone would go out of their way to warn against becoming involved with him.

"You saw that display upstairs," Mustang murmured pointedly, "That was more straightforward and elaborate than any of the other displays he's put on while he's been here. I don't believe you don't know it was done on purpose. You also know what kind of punishment he's going to receive _because_ of it; especially since Envy was the one who stopped him."

Alphonse tried to take that speech part by part, linking it to the fixed look he was being given and what had happened upstairs and during class to figure out just what exactly he was being warned against.

Winry was right; Edward _did_ try to get in trouble, at least part of the time. What had just happened outside of Mustang's classroom was one of these times, which probably meant that the scene _during_ class was an attempt as well. But since Edward had resorted to performing a large-scale transmutation that was designed to get noticed, the argument Alphonse had overheard between the teacher and the shorter boy was probably Edward challenging the man to punish him, and Mustang refusing. This, along with the fact that the man had specifically pointed out that this had been the most elaborate attempt by the blonde to get himself penalized, made the younger boy reconsider his initial thought that Mustang was warning him against being pulled in too far and getting in trouble himself.

For nearly two months, Alphonse hadn't witnessed or even heard of anything like this, where _any_ student, let alone Edward, had gone out of their way to get in trouble. Looking at this information alongside the looks the older boy had given him right before he'd tried to shift the building right out from under their feet, which Mustang claimed to have witnessed, _and _the fact that Edward had outmaneuvered _himself_ for possibly the first time, it was feasible to, perhaps, construe the situation into one that _Alphonse_ had inadvertently caused.

Was Mustang accusing him of _provoking _Edward? Did he think that somehow Alphonse was making the older boy act the way he had just a few minutes ago, and was trying to protect Edward? He obviously didn't want the other blonde in trouble, otherwise he would have punished him for what he'd done in class; so then, was he telling Alphonse to stay away for Edward's sake? Or was it for the younger boy's own protection?

The man was completely unreadable, which frightened the blonde. He didn't know if he was being warned or cautioned and, though Mustang was a charmer at any other given time, he had all the intimidating presence of Master Gran at this one, and with more credibility.

Alphonse found himself slowly inching his way towards the doors that would send him back to the primary building and, unable to stop his feet, or his mouth, he just nodded vaguely and murmured, "I...have to get to class..."

* * *

"I can't believe he did it _again_! That idiot!" 

"Calm down, you act as if this's the first time-"

"That's exactly the _problem_, Russell!"

Alphonse didn't catch much of Winry's explanation of the rest of the problem, but it was clear that at least Russell had heard it before. The rest of the school, the boy realized as he'd made his way with his tray towards the far corner table, were all talking about the same thing, and he couldn't imagine that his friends weren't arguing about it as well.

"Hey, Alphonse," Fletcher greeted, looking a little worried as his roommate took a seat, "Where were you during lunch?"

"Oh," the older boy flushed, "I had to serve a detention with Master Hawkeye for being late; I thought Russell would have told you."

The boy in question merely shrugged helplessly, "I had some work to finish so I got a pass to go to the library."

"Hey, Al! Fletcher told us that you saw Ed before Envy and Wrath took him. Did you see what happened?"

The rest of the group gestured that Panina should keep her voice down, but she ignored them expertly, keeping her gaze fixed on the boy next to her, wanting to hear the whole account of what had happened. The only other witness, besides Edward, had been Mustang, after all, and he had that "Don't ask, don't tell" policy, Alphonse remembered.

He was a little uncomfortable being put on the spot like that, especially with something like this, but these were Edward's friends as well, he reminded himself, and they deserved to know. Despite even Panina's exuberance, they wouldn't go around the school telling everyone the story; which the blonde found he surprisingly glad for.

Keeping his voice low enough that nearby students wouldn't overhear, Alphonse related the story: From the baiting during class, to the argument afterwards, and culminating with the fantastic Alchemic display before Wrath had tackled Edward. He discreetly left out the conversation he'd had with Mustang afterwards, still not sure what to make of it _himself_; he'd have to muddle that over later in private.

However, there was something else that required his attention. He had to talk to Edward.

It wasn't just a problem of Alphonse's own fascination anymore. The older boy had somehow dragged him into this mess that he'd apparently been building at the school for five _years_. And Alphonse didn't appreciate. Mustang was threatening him and Envy and Wrath were both surveying him closely now. Everywhere the blonde had been since that morning, one of the two Guardians was there _watching_ him.

Enough was enough. Alphonse was going to finally get to the bottom of this, and he was going straight to the source this time. The only hitch was, the source wasn't there. Of course the blonde realized, after a second, that Edward had most certainly been punished; but how?

The others had gotten caught up in another conversation and, hearing that it had nothing to do with that morning's incident, interrupted them.

"Hey, guys? Sorry, but I didn't hear Envy say anything about Edward's punishment before he took him away. Do you know what they did?"

Russell and Winry were suddenly very interested in their entwined hands, and Fletcher Rick and Leo looked just as ignorant as Alphonse; so once again, it was Panina's turn to speak up.

"They doubled his punishment from last time," the girl murmured contemptuously. "Six weeks. Two _months_. He's not getting out of there until the summer session starts."

Two months. Edward was going to be in solitary confinement for _two months_. For the first time, Alphonse suddenly felt the loss of the older boy's presence at the table. It wasn't the same as when he'd been gone serving detentions, because _this_ time, he wouldn't just be back the next day or the next meal.

The entire table was subdued after that, even Rick and Leo who'd barely known the other boy. Panina slid under the table and took up the seat next to Winry, the girls trying to smile though it looked hollow even to Fletcher.

* * *

Things remained mostly the same over the course of the next couple of weeks, no significant changes to the world inside of the school, which seemed to remind everyone that it hadn't ended; not quite yet anyway. Their spirits soon lifted, and mealtimes returned to the way Alphonse remembered them being for that first month after he'd arrived. Always in the back of his mind he remembered the short blonde who was locked up two floors beneath the locker rooms in the secondary building, but there was nothing he could do, so he tried not to let it influence his attitude or schoolwork. 

Mustang had returned to normal the second Alphonse had left him, it appeared. There was not an indication that the man even remembered their conversation and there were times when the boy almost thought he'd dreamt the whole thing.

Envy and Wrath were still watching him, but as long as he didn't break any rules, Alphonse figured he was in the clear.

Overall, time had passed and the universe had gone on just as it had before. It wasn't until they'd reached the halfway mark for Edward's punishment that Alphonse discovered something abnormal.

He'd been returning to his room alone after dinner one night, Fletcher having gone off to the library to finish reading a book he'd been assigned by Master Hawkeye. Their dormitory door had been locked, he was sure, since that morning, when they'd left for breakfast, yet when he turned on the light there was clearly a folded piece of paper, with his name written on it, lying on the foot of his bed.

A quick search showed that nothing else had been left or taken, and there was no one else in the room. It was impossible to tell if there was anyone suspicious in the hallways because it was filled with other students coming back from dinner. Even if there were a girl among them, he wouldn't have been able to see her unless she was about seven feet tall.

Deciding there was nothing else for him to do, Alphonse gingerly lifted the paper from his bed and replaced it with himself, relieved when the mattress merely bounced under his weightt instead of blowing up or something.

It was only three lines with a post script in a handwriting he didn't recognize. He didn't have to, however, as Edward had signed his name.

"_Envy's up to something. Dante may be in on it too. Watch yourself._

_-Edward_

_P.S._

_Get rid of this._"

Envy was up to something. The Head Mistress might be involved. Alphonse might be in danger of something and Edward was worried about him...

The world really was coming to an end. Alphonse had the note telling him such right in his hands. He didn't know how it had gotten there, but he had to get rid of it before Fletcher returned from the library...

_To be continued..._


	6. Chapter 5: Conspiracy

**Notes:** Wow... Sorry for the _really_ late update! I finally saw the FMA movie yesterday and was unable to think of anything else for the rest of the night. T.T

* * *

**Chapter 5: Conspiracy**

No one seemed to know anything about the note, not that Alphonse had actually asked any of them, but none of his friends seemed outwardly suspicious anyway. But how had it gotten into his room? And, for that matter, how had it gotten away from _Edward_ in the _first _place, who was supposed to be locked away in solitary confinement and had been for the previous month? What was Alphonse being warned about, and why did Edward care?

There was no proof, of course, that Edward had even sent the note except that his name was written on it and Alphonse didn't recognize the handwriting. But anyone could have signed the other boy's name, and there were hundreds of kids in the school whose handwriting he'd never even _seen_, not to mention the Sins and some of the faculty and staff. Besides, they could have always disguised their handwriting so Alphonse _wouldn't _recognize it.

But why would they do that? Nothing seemed to make any _sense_ anymore, and Alphonse vowed that, if he ever finally graduated from this place, he was going to get his Alchemist's license, build himself a log cabin in the middle of nowhere, and live the rest of his life alone as a hermit.

He'd survived alone in the wilderness before, and that had been without Alchemy or any sort of shelter; certainly he'd be able to pull it off now that he had the experience and would have a house and the ability to use Alchemy! And then he wouldn't have to deal strange little blonde boys looking at him weird and leaving notes on his bed when he was supposed to be locked up and warning him about some conspiracy that might or might not be forming against him.

It was almost unbearable, the curiosity and paranoia that this note-sender had instilled in him. Oh, he was naturally curious by nature anyway, a curse that had gotten Alphonse into trouble more times than he cared to admit; but only once before had he been presented with something so innately fascinating, leaving him with this _need_ to find out more that his life all but revolved around it. One time before...and look where _that_ had gotten him. Not again. He wouldn't do it again. He _couldn't _do it again. He couldn't let something that showed all the signs of being a _very _dangerous obsession lead him into its clutches again, and the fact that he was swiftly falling into that pit of disaster again made him resent Edward more than anything.

He couldn't be positive that the older boy had actually sent the note, but Alphonse needed _someone_ to blame this all on, and Edward was also the only suspect he had until the end of the spring session and the blonde was released.

How could he _do _this to him? Dragging the younger boy into whatever convoluted plot Edward had come up with five years before they'd even _met_? Distracting him from everything that he _should _have been paying attention to. All Alphonse wanted to do was sit with his friends at meals, go to class, do his work, and graduate and get _out_ of this place. What did Edward have against that? Just because he was in trouble too much to actually pass any of his classes didn't mean he had to drag everyone down _with _him.

The others must have noticed something at some point, but they mercifully kept their mouths shut, settling on sending concerned glances his way instead. Fletcher was constantly staring at him with that almost pained look of worry he got whenever he thought one of his friends was in trouble beyond his help. Alphonse tried to reassure him by smiling whenever he was around and trying his best to keep his attention on what it was meant to be on, instead of drifting off to his own mind and what the hell was going on, why his life was suddenly so much more complicated than it had to be, and just how much he was going to yell at Edward when he was finally released.

A surprise came, however, when Alphonse was sitting in the library one evening after dinner, trying to finish the paper he'd been assigned two weeks ago by Master Gran that he'd put off until the day before. The boy had hidden himself at the back of the library, behind the shelves of books where an extra set of tables had been placed for when it got busy. At this time of night, the majority of students were at the front of the room, leaving Alphonse, he had thought, alone.

For almost three quarters of an hour, the blonde was left undisturbed as he worked, trying to will himself to write what Gran wanted to hear, and trying to figure what that might be in the first place. Half a page; eight-tenths of a page; one page; one and three-quarters. One and a half pages remained, and Alphonse was _confident_ that he'd be able to finish before curfew at the rate he was going.

Hushed voices and footsteps tried to steal the blonde's attention away from his assignment, but he tried to ignore the nagging voice in the back of his head. It was just a couple of students putting back their books, or trying to find another one; what was so interesting about _that_?

"I don't see what the problem is," one of the voices sighed.

_Not a student_, Alphonse mind warned, recognizing the voice immediately, _Definitely _not_ a student!_

He didn't want to wait to see who answered, quickly grabbing his books and paper and trying not to make a sound as those three lines in Edward's note resounded in his head: _Envy's up to something. Dante may be in on it too. Watch yourself._

_Envy's up to something. Watch yourself._

_Envy!_

Alphonse's heart was pounding in his ears as he slipped out of his chair, listening to the footsteps against the hardwood floor and trying to gauge which aisle they were coming down and then darted into the next one over. The smarter move would have been to take the farthest aisle, and the blonde mentally shouted at his feet, asking why they'd taken him down _this_ one, but they only answered back that he knew _exactly_ why he was there.

A woman's voice could be heard through the bookcases -- smooth, calm, and reasonable, with a note of kindness that Alphonse wasn't sure he believed.

"'Solitary confinement' means _solitary_ confinement, Envy. _Secluded_. _Alone_. He is not to have any contact with anyone for the duration of the punishment."

"Yeah, yeah," the man drawled, "I know what it means. All I was trying to do was make sure he was fully _appreciating _his punishment."

"That's not your responsibility. Pride has made-"

"And why not?" Envy asked sharply. "I was the one that stopped him, wasn't I? I suggested the punishment, didn't I? So I have the right to-"

"No, you do not."

There was a pause and the Guardian seemed to have been surprisingly quieted.

"'She' and Pride are the only ones who have the authority to breach or change the rules of a punishment. You know that Envy, and the next time you disobey your orders you may find yourself in the cell next door to _his_."

The woman's heels clicked against the floor as she walked briskly back to the front of the library, undoubtedly towards the door to leave. Alphonse saw his chance and darted quietly to the end of the shelving unit to see who the woman was, only to catch a glimpse of a length of mousy brown hair pulled loosely back in a vague ponytail. Of course. That was why he hadn't recognized the voice; Alphonse didn't think he had heard Sloth speak once since his arrival.

"Enjoying the view, Blondie?"

The boy jumped, feeling his heart jump into his throat as his stomach simultaneously sank towards his toes, and he slowly turned towards the source of that voice, mentally cringing at the cruel grin on Envy's face.

"No?" the Sin asked, affecting a surprised air, "Are you sure? Sloth's not bad, is she? But maybe you're just...not _interested_..."

Alphonse flushed under Envy's falsely thoughtful scrutiny and the intonation and meaning behind that particular word. Apparently that was just the reaction that the man had been looking for and his face turned solemn, nodding understandingly as he slowly closed the distance between them, "Oh, I see. I understand. Do your friends know?"

No answer.

"No? You haven't told them?"

Still no answer.

"I know, you're afraid of what they'll think of you, right? Or maybe..." The man gasped and his face lit up as if with sudden inspiration, and he was suddenly in front of Alphonse, a few inches away and _leering_. "You _like_ one of them. Who is it? Oh no, no, wait! Don't tell me; let me guess!"

Envy made a show of deliberating long and hard with himself, rolling his eyes up to the ceiling, tapping his chin with his finger, and mumbling quietly to himself. "Is it...your roommate?" he asked finally, seemingly unsure of his guess, "The little boy; Fletcher? Or wait! I know! The tall one with those pretty blue eyes. Your roomie's brother. Russell, right? No, wait. I've got it."

Whatever distance had been left between them was all at once gone, and Alphonse shuddered as he felt the Guardian's lips brush against his ear as he whispered with an audible grin, "It's Edward, isn't it?"

A low chuckle resounded deep in Envy's throat, but before the boy could even _contemplate_ moving away, he felt a strong arm wrap around him, trapping him where he was and sending another unpleasant shiver down his spine as the Guardian's large hand slid down his back.

"Mmm, I'm right, aren't I? He's fascinating, isn't he? Mysterious and dangerous... Not to mention that tight little ass..." Envy was almost moaning at his own description of the blonde he'd locked up; the blonde he'd apparently been visiting frequently enough to arouse the suspicion and disapproval of Pride, a jealous little voice at the back of the boy's mind reminded him.

Alphonse was paralyzed with sheer amazement, knowing he should try and get away, but unable to make his feet obey the command to _move_.

Another moment, though, and he didn't have to. The Guardian pulled away, still leering at the frightened and utterly confused student. And then he was leaving.

"Don't worry, Blondie," he called over his shoulder, "I'll be sure and let the Midget know next time I see him."

_Oh god...!_

The boy rushed through the rest of the shelves trying to catch up to Envy, not sure what he would do when he caught up with him, but not slowing down until he'd reached the other study area. Only to find no evidence that Envy had even been there. All of the other students were bent fastidiously over their books and notebooks and the librarians, Mister Fury and Miss Schieska, were conversing in hushed voices, presumable about the novel laying open on the desk before them.

Alphonse was understandably shaken, and he wanted nothing more than to return to his dormitory, lock the door, and curl up in bed. He would be safe there, right? Though, then again, he remembered that note he'd found on his bed a week ago. But Fletcher would be with him. No one would try anything with someone else around; at least that what the blonde _chose _to believe.

But he didn't want to take to the halls by himself and chance being cornered by the Sin again; or any of the _other_ Sins for that matter. He checked the clock on the wall above circulation desk and tried to remember if this one was slow or fast. If he remembered right, then he still had about forty-five minutes left until curfew; so the other students would probably start filtering out soon to head to their own dorms. They would all be heading in the same direction, though, so the blonde took a seat at one of the less-full tables and tried to concentrate on getting at least _some_ of the rest of his homework finished.

Mostly, though, he waited. And he thought.

* * *

The end of the spring session brought two things with it for each student to look forward to: End of Term Evaluations, and a week and a half-long break during which a they were required to meet with their counselors and decide, based on their previous performances in class, what their schedules would be for the summer session.

End of Term Evaluations, the final exam of the course, were held during normal class times and tested the students on all of the material covered from first to last day. If they didn't finish within the allotted time, they were granted permission to negotiate with the teacher to return at another point that day to finish; however, if they _still_ hadn't completed the exam within the agreed upon time, they had no other chance to finish.

Stress was no stranger to the students leading up to this event, and Alphonse was immensely glad that he could blame his recent seemingly erratic behavior on this. His run-in with Envy in the library had been added to the growing list of things that the blonde had decided to take a vow of silence on, joining the ranks of Edward's suspicious behavior before Envy and Wrath had taken him, his conversation with Mustang, and the note left on his bed.

His friends didn't seem to believe him, and how could he blame them with either Envy or Wrath leering and winking at him whenever he looked their way? But, once again, they said nothing, simply going on with their lives as if the upcoming evaluations were the most pressing problems in the world at large.

It probably would have done the boy good if he'd actually believed that; if he'd studied as obsessively as he thought and obsessed and analyzed everything _else_; everything that he believed Edward had brought about. But even the threat of possible failure in every last one of his classes, damning him to repeat them all until he passed and putting off his graduation for that much longer wasn't even enough to snap his mind back into focus where it should have been.

* * *

Evaluations came and went and the following week was filled with the unhappy mutterings of the entire student body, _certain_ they'd failed. Even Russell, arguably the most intelligent among them seemed to at least be _somewhat_ worried over his final grades.

Alphonse inwardly snorted at their naïveté and insecurity. Oh, they _thought_ they had failed, yes, but Alphonse _knew_ he'd failed; how could he _not_ have when Edward had dominated his every thought?

This was the depressing truth that flitted through the blonde's mind as he morosely tried to stab a mummified orange twig masquerading as a carrot stick with his spork.

"Geez, Winry. Give it up already!" Russell sounded vaguely annoyed as he shifted his chair further away from the swooning girl. "The only way you'd fail that test is if you purposely screwed up just so you could get his attention again, or if you were too busy staring at Mustang's ass to even _take_ it."

"Oh, very mature, Russell," Winry drawled, "What're you afraid of the competition?"

"To answer that question, we'd have to labor under the assumption that I actually _believed_ he was any competition. you're not the only girl who's ever fawned over him," the boy added calmly and rationally, "And, lest you forget, _he's_ a teacher."

Panina swallowed a mouthful of wilting salad with a triumphant smirk as she, just as rationally pointed out, "I dunno, that hasn't stopped him from _Ed_."

"And then there's _that_," Russell added, pleased.

Winry pouted, and Fletcher tried to hide his giggling. Alphonse glanced over at the man in question, seeing him talking intently with Mister Hughes. Well, Hughes was talking intently, Mustang just seemed to listening, somewhat annoyed. He couldn't imagine what they were talking about, but he didn't envy the counselor's position.

"Hey, Al, what about you?"

He really needed to stop zoning out.

"What about...me?" he asked, blinking bemusedly at Rick.

"Yeah," the boy answered, "I thought everyone had to meet with their counselor." A quick look around the table confirmed his statement and he glanced back at the older boy.

"Don't mind him, he's just having some problems concentrating. For the past couple of months. Rick wants to know when you're getting your schedule done," Panina supplied helpfully.

"Oh," Alphonse blushed, "Actually, I'm supposed to be meeting Mister Hughes after lunch."

The look of utter dread that he tried to conceal apparently was still at least somewhat visible as the blonde turned and saw the concerned gazes of his friends. He wasn't sure the cheerful wave the counselor gave him when their gazes met worried him even more.

* * *

Hughes' office was just as plain and ordinary as any of the other many offices throughout the buildings. A regulation desk, with four regulation chairs (two on either side of the desk and two off to the side for people to wait); there was a regulation phone and planner on the desk, with a window sitting just behind with an unimpressive view of the primary building.

Photographs and other highly personal affects were not allowed but, unlike most of the other offices, there was something about the room -- something in the way the furniture was arranged, or the various office supplies on his desk were set -- that somehow managed to make Hughes' office, _Hughes' _office. Even though Alphonse had only been to the office a total of two times before, and even knowing that he was about to face his own doom, he couldn't help but feel comfortable as he sat down in the chair across the desk.

"Hey, Alphonse," the man greeted brightly as he shuffled through a pile of manila folders, "Sorry I'm late; Mustang's a real handful, y'know." He seemed fairly amused by his own joke, though Alphonse took that a completely different way.

He said nothing, however, simply waiting for the counselor to pull his file from the stack and tell him the bad news.

"Ah, here we go! Well then, let's see how things look, eh?"

The blonde carefully watched Hughes as he surveyed the reports from his various teachers, noting every subtle change in his expression. The bright and cheery smile slowly twitched away as a thoughtful, and maybe just a little concerned, frown formed instead. The man emitted a few pensive "hm's" as he held his chin between his fingers. When he finally finished reading, Hughes placed the file back on his desk, leaned back in his chair, and let his eyes slide closed as he removed his glasses to clean them with a handkerchief he produced out of his breast pocket.

He didn't speak until he'd replaced the spectacles back on his nose, "Well, Alphonse, it seems you've passed all but two of your classes." Hughes seemed disappointed, but Alphonse was surprised he'd done even _that_ well. "Just barely, but you did. I _am_ concerned about that, but there's nothing I can technically do about it if you passed. The two that you _didn't_ however... Master Mustang's and Master Gran's classes. To tell you the truth, I'm not that surprised about Gran; if there's one thing preventing you students from graduating, it's his classes. But _math_, Alphonse?"

He couldn't help but wince at the accusation in the man's voice, but Hughes didn't seem to notice as he lifted a sheet and adjusted his glasses. "I know you're an intelligent kid, and you were doing so well early on. You were even tutoring your friend, Fletcher, right? But then suddenly you lost focus, and you failed the evaluation exam."

The counselor replaced the report back into its file and he turned apologetically to the boy before him, "I'm sorry, Alphonse, but I'm afraid you're going to have to repeat both classes. And, maybe this time, you'll keep your head on straight for the whole term."

Alphonse sank into his chair and just nodded defeatedly; he'd expected as much. That didn't mean he had to _like_ it, however, and he barely heard when Hughes spoke up again.

"Care to tell me what happened, Alphonse? I know you could have done a lot better than this." When the boy didn't answer, Hughes sighed but sat back in his chair and lifted another paper from the file folder, scanning the information on it quickly before informing the blonde of its contents. "It seems there's going to be a room change for you. _And_ a new roommate."

This caught Alphonse's attention quickly enough. "What about Fletcher?"

"Oh, don't worry, he's getting a new roommate as well. Actually, what's going on is more of a roommate _swap_. Don't worry, it's not uncommon at all, though usually this sort of thing is dealt with _after_ summer; but there are always exceptions once in a while. It seems Head Mistress Dante has some...concerns, and so you'll be switching rooms with your buddy Russell; so Fletcher will be rooming with his brother in the room you're in now, and you'll be rooming with _Edward_ in Russell's room. Well, once he comes back, anyway."

"Wait a second," the boy objected without even thinking. It didn't matter, he didn't _need_ to think, he just needed to know, which he did, that this could _not_ happen. "You can't switch us."

"Why not?"

"Because...! I-... I can't room with Edward."

Hughes gazed at the boy skeptically, and just a bit concernedly. "Why not, Alphonse? I'm afraid if you can't give me a reason-..."

"Because... I-..." The blonde was at a complete loss for words. How was he supposed to explain to the man that he couldn't room with Edward because he was so infatuated with the older boy that he'd made him fail his classes? How was he supposed to tell him that he was certain he'd go _insane_ if he had to _live_ with Edward, being faced with his presence day after day with no reprieve but whatever classes they didn't have in common? He couldn't; it was as simple as that. He'd be written off as insane and sent off to some "institution" where they'd "help him get better" through the use of drugs and electroshock therapy.

Alphonse slowly sat back in his chair, dropping his eyes and hands to his lap.

"I see," Hughes murmured, closing the file and slouching back. "Well, I'm very sorry, Alphonse, but the decision's already been made, and there's nothing I can do about it right now. The move will take place once Edward returns from his punishment and Envy and Wrath will oversee it. Just try and make the best of it, Alphonse, alright? And if a real problem comes up, then we'll deal with it then." He paused, as if waiting for confirmation, which the boy just gave with a slow nod. "Okay then. Schedules will be distributed on the first day of classes. I'll see you 'round, kid."

Alphonse didn't even bother nodding this time as he stood and headed away from Hughes' office, almost in a daze as he made his way back to his..._former_ dormitory.

Fletcher was there, lying on his stomach on his bed with the fantasy novel he'd been reading for the past few days opened in front of him. He looked up as the door opened and, seeing the stunned look on his roommate's face, smiled sympathetically. "You did that bad?"

The older boy shook his head. "I only have to repeat Mustang's and Gran's classes. I did okay in the others."

"Well...that's _good_ right?" Fletcher prompted, marking his place in his book and sitting up on the bed. When his roommate didn't answer, however, he frowned and got to his feet, taking Alphonse by the shoulders and carefully walking him over to sit down on his bed. "Alphonse, what's wrong?"

The taller blonde finally seemed to look at his friend, and, unable to think of any other way to break the news, mumbled, "Russell and I are moving."

_To be continued..._


	7. Chapter 6: Moving

**Notes:** Wah! So sorry this is so late, those of you that have been waiting for it. Classes just started up again and things have been kinda hectic. I don't expect to be able to keep up with the schedule I'd been doing when this first started out, but I'll make sure to update at _least_ once a week. Also, at this point, I'm going to try and split the perspectives now that Ed and Al are living together, just because there's some stuff I want to include that I wouldn't be able to if I'd stuck to just looking at things from Al's perspective. I think that's it.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Moving**

Russell had been notified the same day, apparently, about the move, and hadn't been very much happier about it. He wasn't deeply _upset_ about it either, but he didn't appreciate getting thrown around without have a reason as to _why_.

Hughes wouldn't say a word -- _couldn't_, he said, because he didn't have any idea _himself_. What did that mean, the boys had asked, and he simply responded saying that Head Mistress Dante obviously had a reason for this and, eventually, their questions would be answered by her. Until then, they were expected to prepare for the move, as if it would take them very long to pack their things which were already stored in a traveling trunk at the feet of their beds anyway.

* * *

That evening at dinner, the only ones trying to keep a cool head about it were Russell and Fetcher. Winry and Panina were frustrated enough for _everyone_ and even Rick and Leo were voicing similar concerns (namely in that the boys were being moved without any apparent explanation behind it), though not nearly as loudly. Alphonse, in the meantime, seemed to have been struck dumb by the entire affair.

"I still don't think it's fair to make you guys move without even giving a reason as to _why_."

Russell sighed wearily as he tried to explain to the girl _again_, "They don't _need_ a reason, Winry; they're the ones in charge. _They_ make up the rules and reserve the right to change them without warning. Besides, they never said they couldn't move you out of your dorm without telling you why."

"He's right, Winry," Fletcher added meekly, "It won't help anything just getting upset by it."

"Oh, be quiet, Fletcher."

The younger blonde immediately complied, dropping his eyes to his tray and missing the scowl his older brother sent Winry's way.

"Look, I don't understand why you're even upset about it in the _first_ place. It's not like they're making you or Panina move."

"Well, _you're_ not upset about it _all_, so we have to be upset _for_ you," the blonde girl all but pouted.

"But if _I'm_ not upset about it," Russell explained patiently, "Then don't you think that maybe, there's nothing to be upset _about_?" Winry just huffed and turned away, though she seemed to be slowly losing her resolve. Russell turned to Alphonse and held out a hand to him imploringly, "C'mon, Al, help me out here."

The other didn't seem to have been paying very much attention as he just blinked confusedly at his friend until he realized what Russell had asked. The shorter boy frowned slightly, giving a faint one-shouldered shrug before looking away, not making Russell feel better at _all_.

"Alphonse?"

"I can't room with Edward," the boy mumbled decisively.

Russell raised an eyebrow at him. "Why not?"

He tried to find the words to explain to his friends _exactly_ why not but, just as with Mister Hughes, he was at a loss. "I just can't, okay?"

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Panina looking more than a little concerned. Alphonse wondered if it was because he appeared to be being irrational or she thought Edward had _done_ something to him. The second thought made him unreasonably angry; to think that Edward might have done something to him!

The blonde shook his head, "I'll never it through the _summer_ session, let alone 'til whenever they decide to _move_ one of us."

"Aw, c'mon, Al," Panina soothed, forcing her former indignation for the boy's sake, "Ed's not _that_ bad. And besides, he's barely ever in his room _anyway_; just ask Russell."

The blonde, while not seeming very pleased with the statement, nodded his agreement. But, while that did make him _somewhat_ better, Alphonse was still reluctant. He could barely concentrate with the shorter boy in one of his classes; how was he expected to when they were _living _together, no matter _how_ little he was the room?

It wasn't only a problem of intense fascination anymore; Envy had certainly made sure of that back in the library. He'd implanted the idea into Alphonse's mind that, even if he wasn't attracted to Edward, he _could_ be. Now, he was _hopelessly_ gone. Every memory he had of the other boy was now _infected_ by Envy's insinuation. The blonde had _already_ dreaded the day that Edward's punishment was over, but now, knowing that the would bring about the dreaded move...

Without another word, or listening to those of his friends, the blonde picked up his tray and left. If he gave a convincing excuse, he could get Master Hawkeye excuse him from the meal and escort him back to his dormitory. Even _she_ seemed concerned for him, but merely nodded and informed Wrath and Envy as she led Alphonse out of the cafeteria.

He tried not to care, instead following the woman silently to his room. He had every intention of taking a good long hot shower and going to sleep. Russell had the right idea: The Head Mistress had decided to move them, and there was nothing else to it. She probably had a good reason but, even though Alphonse couldn't imagine what that was, it was useless to question or fight it. That much, he'd figured out; he'd come to terms with it, even. But he still had to figure out how he was going to manage living with Edward.

* * *

Head Mistress Dante didn't make an appearance the day of the move, which wasn't a surprise to anyone. Instead, she sent Envy as her personal spokesperson and overseer of the move itself. This, needless to say, upset Alphonse quite a bit, but he merely suffered in silence; while Edward, who had finally been released and _hadn't_ yet been told of the move, was busy making a scene in the middle of the hallway.

"This is _stupid_," the short boy objected loudly as Russell passed him with another pile of books. "Why didn't anyone at least _tell_ me!"

"You were in solitary confinement, Edward; how could anyone tell you?" Envy was getting far too much pleasure out of the situation than _anyone_ should be allowed to; but he was doing an almost good job at hiding it.

Edward fumed at that, looking very much like he wanted to say something to that, but the Sin's eyes sparkled in a way that made it clear to everyone there that, whatever the blonde wanted to say, he couldn't; not in front of others, anyway.

Shifting his grip on his trunk as he slowly dragged it down the hall, Alphonse avoided looking at either Envy _or_ Edward, though he couldn't help but listen in to their conversation. Russell helped him drag the trunk the rest of the way, looking calm and collected as always, and asked for help moving his _own_ trunk. When they left the room, Envy and Edward were _still_ arguing.

"Well just why the hell does he have to move _anyway_!" the boy demanded.

The two blonde's carrying Russell's trunk down the hall merely rolled their eyes at the question that, not only had _they asked_ when they'd first heard, but that Winry and Panina and Rick and Leo and Fletcher had all been asking _since_. No one had gotten an answer, and neither expected Edward to get any either.

"You _really_ want to know?"

They both stopped in their tracks, turning to the Guardian. The look on the man's face... It almost looked like he was going to tell him... It almost looked like he _wanted_ to tell him.

Envy's eyes danced as his smirk turned dangerous, crossing his arms over his chest and taking his sweet time explaining the apparent situation. "It's come to the Head Mistress' attention that certain..._circumstances_ make it unwise to have you and your _former_ roommate living in the same quarters."

"_What_ circumstances?" Edward ground out.

If at all possible, the Guardian's grin just widened. "The Head Mistress is concerned about the...privacy allowed by the dormitories, considering where your interests lie."

It was somewhat amusing, Alphonse thought to himself, to watch the blonde turn several shades of red as every emotion imaginable flickered across his face. Though he couldn't ignore the implications of those words, his mind suddenly running wild with all kinds of ideas he'd never admit to. However...

"_WHAT!_"

The hallways was suddenly filled with the sound of shouting and Alphonse and Russell had immediately dropped the taller boy's trunk to restrain Edward before he leapt at the Guardian, who looked exceptionally pleased with himself.

"What the hell are you talking about! You've gotta be fucking _kidding _me!"

"Ed, calm down, you're just going to end up in solitary confinement again!"

It seemed not even _that_ threat was enough to quiet the boy as he continued flailing against the blonde's trying to hold him back. The taunting expression on Envy's face just proved to infuriate Edward even more until his elbow collided with Russell's stomach. The taller boy didn't make so much as a sound, just curling over his stomach, arms wrapped tightly around his torso to prevent any further damage as he stumbled backwards a few steps and collapsed onto his trunk.

Both Fletcher and Alphonse were at the blonde's side in an instant, trying to get him to remember how to breathe again, while Edward turned and watched them in something akin to disbelief. Not even as Envy sauntered up behind the boy did he move.

"You see what you did?" the Guardian purred in the boy's ear. "That wasn't very nice, pipsqueak; I thought he was one of your _friends_. Well, maybe not quite _friends_..." The Sin emphasized the true meaning of his words by resting a hand on Edward's thigh, just below his hip, the other dancing down the length of his right arm. "It only brings destruction, doesn't it?" Envy murmured, pressing himself to the boy's back, "You just keep hurting everyone; you can't stop, can you?"

Edward seemed to finally snap out of the trance, pulling away from the Guardian without a word and, only sparing a glance at the three blondes huddled by Russell's trunk, stormed towards his room. Alphonse saw (and heard) him go by and followed after him quickly, reassured by Russell that he was alright and that Fletcher would help him move his trunk.

"Edward?" Alphonse called after the older boy, "Edward, wait!"

The door slammed in his face the second he arrived at it, making him flinch. He glared at the closed door however, hearing Envy's muffled laughter and Russell's panting in the background, and the boy had just had enough. Throwing the door open, the blonde scowled at his new roommate sitting on his bed all wrapped up in his arms, and then slammed the door behind him again, just _daring_ the other boy to try and kick him out.

"What the hell do you want?"

As if Alphonse had any idea what he really wanted anymore, but that wasn't really what the shorter boy was asking. "I want to know what your problem is."

"What do you _think _my problem is?" Edward retorted.

The younger boy rolled his eyes at the sheer immaturity of his response. "I don't know," Alphonse retorted, crossing to his trunk to dig out his books, "Otherwise I wouldn't have asked. Look, none of us are very happy about this move, but the _rest_ of us have realized that there's nothing we can really do about it. You'd do us all a big favor if you'd just _get over_ _it_."

There was no answer, but it was just as well; Alphonse didn't really expect that much conversation considering they hadn't exchanged more than a couple of sentences over the course of their association. Pulling his books out from the depths of his trunk, the blonde carried them to the desk beside his new bed and began placing them on the shelf. He could feel Edward's eyes on his back and, as much as it sent a little thrill through him, Alphonse couldn't help but feel immensely annoyed.

"What!" he shouted, spinning around to face the other boy.

Edward flushed (which was a reaction the other _hadn't_ been expecting) and looked away. The room was one of the few on each floor to have a window, and the older boy's gaze traveled across the horizon, not for the first time. He didn't answer his new roommate, which just annoyed the other blonde even more; Edward wasn't sure if he enjoyed that fact, resented it, or didn't care either way.

Alphonse bit his tongue, _not_ really wanting to start an argument, and went back to his unpacking. After another minute or so, he could feel the other boy watching him again, but he didn't say anything. He didn't say anything when Edward openly scrutinized the younger blonde's books; he didn't say anything when Edward tried to read over his shoulder from his bed when Alphonse began reading one of them; he didn't say anything when the older boy finally snatched up a towel and announced in a voice that clearly felt put-out, that he was going to take a shower.

It wasn't until after he'd disappeared down the hall that Alphonse finally pulled himself out of bed and darted down the hallway, rapping at the door of his former dormitory.

"Something wrong?" Russell greeted him with a appraising look.

"I can't do this," the shorter boy answered almost pleadingly.

Russell stepped aside to allow him through and Fletcher greeted his friend with a worried smile. Alphonse dropped onto the bed that he'd slept in until just a half an hour ago and rested his head in his hands.

"I can't do this," he groaned again, "I won't be able to survive in the same room with him until they decide to switch one of us again."

"Alphonse, what happened?"

The blonde just shook his head mournfully, trying to collect his thoughts in a way that wouldn't sound completely insane to the brothers. "He doesn't like me. At all."

"How do you know?" Russell asked sounding completely unconvinced.

"I can tell," Alphonse snapped, but looked apologetic a second later. He really shouldn't be taking out his frustration on his two friends. "Just... It's nothing really specific, but little things, y'know? He's had an attitude since I moved in, and he keeps _staring _at me as if I have no right to be there, and, just now, he stormed out to the showers as if _he's _been so inconvenienced having me in there! And what about that scene in the hallway?" he added. "I bet he wouldn't have made such a scene if it had been Fletcher instead of _me_."

The boy in question slowly sat down on the bed next to his former roommate, hesitating before reaching out and tugging Alphonse's hands from his face. "Well, Edward _has_ known both of us longer than you..." he offered gently.

He was answered with a disbelieving snort. The level of animosity the short blonde had displayed towards his new roommate thus far was from more than just not knowing each other very well. In fact, both boys had gone out of their way to make _sure_ the other didn't know certain things about them.

"I don't think that's quite the problem, Fletcher," Russell agreed with the snort. "But it's part of it, I think. Just think of it this way, Al: Ed doesn't really..._think_ in the same way most people do. He's not crazy or anything," he pointed out quickly, "He just... Well, to tell you the truth, I wouldn't be surprised if he was a real genius. I mean, all of us here are fairly intelligent, but Ed, when he actually _tries_, pretty much blows everyone here out of the water. Maybe even Head Mistress Dante."

Alphonse stared at the other boy, not sure if he would believe this if it wasn't coming from Russell's mouth. It wasn't just within the school that Head Mistress Dante's reputation was known; throughout the country she was spoken of with near-reverence among most of the Alchemical community. Everyone else, at the very least, acknowledged her intelligence.

"So, what are you saying," Alphonse asked, dropping his hands into his lap, "That he hates me because I'm stupider than him?"

"Hardly," Russell scoffed. "You're no idiot, Al; and whether you believe it or not, Ed's noticed."

"So he thinks I'm _competition _or something...?"

The taller boy grinned in a way that told Alphonse that he wasn't about to get a straight answer any time soon. "Something like that."

The shorter blonde looked to Fletcher for some sort of clarification, but he seemed just as confused as Alphonse. Maybe Panina or Winry might have some idea of what Russell was blabbering on about, but that would require waiting until he could get them alone; and in the meantime he was stuck with Edward.

"Well, how do _you_ suggest I deal with him?" Alphonse challenged, his expression practically a pout.

Russell appeared to think the question over before he bent to wrap an arm around his friend's shoulders, urging him up from the bed and leading him towards the door. "There's really not much you can do about Ed's attitude," he said, entirely uncomforting, "He thinks what he wants and no one but himself can convince him to think otherwise. The best you can do is to just ride it through. Don't worry, Al, he'll come around eventually."

Not until the door closed in his face did Alphonse even realize that he wasn't in the room anymore.

Ride it through? He'll come around eventually? How was that any sort of good advice! Russell was keeping something from him, he _knew_ he was; but the other boy was just one in a long line of people that were keeping things from Alphonse. As much as he knew he couldn't really do a thing about it, though, that didn't mean he had to like it and, with a groan, he leaned forward, knocking his forehead against the door a few times.

The only thing the boy had to comfort himself with was that, with all of the frustration he was feeling, Alphonse didn't think that he'd have very much of a problem trying to keep his mind off of any attraction he might ever feel towards his new roommate.

_To be continued..._


	8. Chapter 7: Summer Term

**Chapter 7: Summer Term

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The relative relaxed atmosphere of the brief repose from classes was quickly snuffed out when they started up again. Control was reestablished by the faculty, though this wasn't required for the Guardians, who hadn't allowed their control to wane to begin with.

Before breakfast the morning of the first day of classes, schedules were distributed to the students by their counselors, accompanied by one of the seven Guardians. Much to Maes Hughes' delight, his chaperone was the Guardian called Lust -- a rather tall woman with a thick fall of dark hair and a body quite befitting of her namesake. It was rumored among the students that, if they were caught breaking the rules by Lust and they gave her a plausible sob story, then she'd let them off the hook with a warning. But, then again there was also a rumor that she had been born a man and, due to some terrible Alchemical rebound, she became a woman...

Nevertheless, Lust was noticeably not as cruel as Envy, Wrath, or Greed, which was why Alphonse was immensely relieved when she followed Hughes into the dormitory.

"Hey, kiddo, how's it hangin'?"

"Good morning, Mr. Hughes," Alphonse greeted the man, stepping aside so he and Lust could enter. The Sin gave him a curious look, but he didn't really know what to make of it so ignored it instead.

Maes crossed straight to the other side of the room and stood at the foot of Edward's bed, grinning wickedly at the still sleeping boy. "Oh, Edward," he sing-songed, "It's time to wake up."

The blonde didn't move and, from the expression on Maes' face, he'd been expecting that. "C'mon, sleepyhead, rise and shine!" Still there was no reaction and Maes just grinned all the wider as he bent down beside the bed and abruptly pulled the sheets away, "Up and at 'em, short stuff!"

If Alphonse hadn't known any better, he'd have thought that Edward had been awake the whole time with how he flailed on the bed before launching himself at Maes, shouting a few incoherent profanities. Luckily for him, though, Maes was able to sidestep the boy and Edward ended up crashing into his own desk chair.

Maes chuckled good-naturedly and Lust merely stood silently near the door, an eyebrow raised at the short blonde tangled in he legs of the chair and one side of her lips curled up in a smirk. It was Alphonse who finally stepped over and grabbed his roommate's bicep, attempting to help him up. Apparently that was the wrong thing to do, however, and the younger boy had but a moment to register that Edward's arm was unusually hard before his own hand was smacked away.

"I can get up myself," the older boy muttered, a faint flush on his cheeks as he stumbled to his feet and leaned back against his desk. "So what the hell do _you_ two want?"

Lust's expression didn't change, nor did she say a word, but Maes just laughed and crossed over to Edward, wrapping an arm around his shoulders despite the blonde's attempt to shrug it off. "It's the first day of the Summer Session, Ed," he pointed out, knowing that the boy knew it already, "You know what that means."

The man held his hand out to his silent escort who reached into a small messenger bag slung over her shoulder and retrieved two envelopes. Maes glanced at the names written on the backs of each and handed them to the two boys. "Schedules!"

Both Edward and Alphonse had a look of trepidation on as they took the envelopes and opened them to find their schedules for the Term inside. Two pairs of eyes skimmed over the list of classes and times and, once they seemed satisfied with their fate for the next three months, Maes clapped Edward on the back and fell in at Lust's side.

"Well, I hope you boys enjoy the Term, have a good first day of classes, and don't worry, Edward, if you fall behind again you can ask your roommate for help! He did a pretty good job tutoring your friend Fletcher last term." And with that they were both gone, leaving the two young blondes gaping at the door.

After what seemed like an eternity, Edward finally spoke, scowling at the door as if he might be able to strike Maes down dead even though he'd already most likely moved down the hall. "What the hell is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"I-I don't know," Alphonse answered sheepishly, his cheeks turning pink. Oh, he knew what Hughes had been _implying_, which the younger boy couldn't have felt more uncomfortable about if he'd _tried_, but why had the man brought it up in the first place?

Edward seemed to catch on more quickly than he did, though. "Let me see your schedule."

The unquestionably demanding tone of voice that he'd used, more than any curiosity he might have had made Alphonse turn to him with an incredulous look on his face, clutching the piece of paper a bit tightly and ask, "Why?"

"Just let me _see_ it," the older boy answered, forcing back the urge to roll his eyes as he snatched the paper away and held it up next to his own.

"Hey!" Alphonse exclaimed, as the schedule flew out of his hand. He stalked up to his roommate, intent on rescuing it, when he saw the... Well, the only way to describe the expression on Edward's face was _disturbed_. "What's wrong?" he asked, suddenly becoming worried and, when no answer was forthcoming he quickly came up beside the shorter boy.

Two classes. Their schedules were _identical_ save for their names at the top and _two classes_.

Alphonse tried to school his expression into something less horrified, but Edward didn't seem to really notice anyway. That evil man had done it on _purpose_, he was _sure_. Hughes was punishing him for failing his classes last term. Well, this was _extremely_ unproductive if he wanted the boy to actually pass his classes _this_ term.

Edward wasn't at all happy either and his movements were agitated as he finally moved back over to his trunk to get dressed. How was he expected to get anything done with Alphonse around?

The two boys dressed in tense silence, decidedly _not_ looking at one another, even when they finally left to meet their friends for breakfast. The others might have noticed something was going on, the even more palpable static between the two roommates, but prudently didn't say a word. Instead, they spoke amongst themselves about their new schedules and how things were going for Fletcher and Russell with the new room assignments. It probably wasn't the best of topics as it was directly related to Edward's and Alphonse's own situation as well and the near-hostility between them seemed to thicken. If it weren't for the bells marking the end of the meal, the others might have flown away anyway, eager to be away from the impending explosion they could feel crackling in the air like a transmutation gone awry.

The first day of classes went as smoothly as was to be expected; there were always a few students who had read their schedules wrong and ended up in the wrong class, some newer students who got lost in the monstrous building, a few teachers who had forgotten for a moment just which class they were supposed to be teaching. For the most part, such mistakes made in the first few days of a new term were forgiven and students and teachers alike learned their lessons quickly.

Alphonse was both pleased and displeased that his first class of the day was his Ethics and Morals class. On the one hand, it was the one of the two classes he didn't have with Edward; on the other, it meant he was starting off the day listening to Master Gran ramble on about his questionable view on what societies values should be. That man was not someone Alphonse thought he was capable of dealing with early in the morning.

The other class he had without his roommate was his physical activity period with Master Armstrong just after lunch. Other than that, Alphonse spent the day entirely in the presence of Edward and trying as hard as he could to ignore the boy. This was far more difficult in Math, as neither Edward nor Master Mustang seemed to have gotten out of practice baiting each other over the nearly four months since they'd seen each other, but the younger boy did his best and hoped that he'd be able to last out the rest of the term.

By the end of the first week, Alphonse was rather proud of himself with how well he was managing the term, considering. He hadn't missed any assignments and, with the extra studying he assigned himself (which was done in the library after dinner) was helping with what he wasn't able to grasp during class itself, where there was always _someone_ there to distract him.

For Edward's part, he didn't seem to be at all worried about his own grades and, the more time he spent with the older boy in class, the more Alphonse came to get the feeling that Edward's only goal was to challenge the teachers. His attitude towards all of the teachers was similar to how he acted with Mustang except, the younger boy noted after a time, at least with Mustang there was an almost grudging respect.

He wasn't entirely sure why, and he didn't even think anyone else noticed it. Well, except Mustang; he had to know, because Alphonse could see that he wasn't stupid enough to say some of the things he did with a young man whom he thought hated him. Especially not when the young man's attitude towards him seemed so important to him.

The other teachers, however, did not receive _any_ sort of respect, grudging or otherwise, from the short and temperamental blonde. Even this fact was something that confused Alphonse; certainly Mustang wasn't the only teacher who deserved some respect, as far as the younger boy was concerned. So why didn't Master Armstrong, Hawkeye, or even Mister Hughes get the same regard?

It was finally the last class of the day, Chemistry, and, now that the preliminary lecturing was over, the students were told to finally pick their lab partners for the first laboratory exercise.

"Choose wisely," Master Tucker announced with a hoarse and vaguely nervous chuckle, "You're going to be stuck with your partner for the rest of the term."

A few students immediately turned to their friends who also happened to be in the class and claimed a lab table for themselves. The other students who were left looked uncomfortably at the others in the class, pleading with their eyes for someone to pick them instead of them having to approach someone they didn't really know that well.

Alphonse was a little lost himself, being one of two advanced students in the class. He didn't really know the girl either, though, and merely sat there somewhat uncomfortably until everyone else was finally paired off. He looked up to see who was finally left, only to find that his plan to simply partner up with the leftover person wasn't going to work as there seemed to be an odd number of people in the class.

He looked up rather helplessly to Master Tucker who simply told him that there were a couple of students missing from class (already) and to just cotton on to one of the other groups for the time-being. The blonde nodded and looked around to the other groups, most of which avoided his gaze. The other advanced student smiled sheepishly at him, though, and waved him over.

While Master Tucker explained their instructions, Alphonse mindlessly copied them down in his notebook while trying to remember who wasn't there. Chemistry was one of the blonde's favorite subjects, as he found it the one "natural science," as it was called, that was most similar to Alchemy, dealing with the combining and separating of materials and energies and the reactions you get. He _didn't_ want to be stuck with a bad partner.

Luck, as always, was against him.

Edward came trudging into the classroom and immediately dropped a note onto Tucker's desk. Alphonse watched as the man read the paper, wondering how he could have forgotten about his roommate (or maybe he'd just blocked it out), and then cringed when Tucker pointed to him and gestured to Edward.

It figured, it _really_ figured that he'd get stuck with Edward as his partner. The older boy didn't seem too pleased either as he walked straight past Alphonse and toward an empty table.

Tucker continued explaining the directions for the experiment and Alphonse copied them down quickly before he bothered moving.

"Here," he muttered to the other boy, dropping his notebook in front of him, "This is what we have to do; I'll go get the stuff we need." He didn't receive an answer, but that didn't bother him as he went to collect the necessary supplies.

Edward sat there, scowling at the notebook in front of him, wondering why everyone apparently thought it would be amusing to make the younger boy his partner in everything he did. He didn't need a partner, didn't _want_ a partner, especially not Alphonse.

He let those thoughts swirl around his head, drowning out the others that tried to elbow their way through and doing his best to ignore Alphonse as he made his way over to their table, his arms full of various instruments and containers. Remembering why he was there in the first place, Edward quickly scanned his roommate's notes to refresh his memory; he'd been through this class before and Tucker wasn't one to vary his syllabus at all.

Alphonse carefully went through setting up their table, keeping his eyes decidedly away from Edward, though he couldn't help but ask, "Why were you late anyway?"

The older boy noted the vaguely accusatory tone of the other blonde's voice, as if he were being so put out by the fact that he'd been late, and rolled his eyes, "Mustang held me back." There was an unspoken "_Duh_," at the end of that sentence, but Edward wouldn't lower himself to voice it.

However, the point was that _Alphonse_ knew it was there; and remembered the incident. He tried not to let it show that he'd forgotten, though. "Why did he hold you back?" the younger boy asked as if Edward was stupid for not inferring that from his previous question.

"None of your business."

Well, he hadn't missed a beat, and both boys finally settled back to their work -- Edward satisfied that Alphonse wasn't going to ask anymore questions and Alphonse satisfied that he wasn't going to get any more information than that.

Despite the flagrant bitterness between them, the two boys seemed to work together better than the other lab groups. Or perhaps it was _because_ of the bitterness, both blondes so intent on not focusing on _each other_ that they focused on the only other thing they could: The lab assignment. It probably didn't hurt that they were among the most intelligent in the class, but it was most definitely that sever drive to focus on something other than the fact that they were working together that made them work so well together.

Even Maes saw the difference two weeks later during his meetings with both of the boys (scheduled conveniently after the first tests of each course were all graded and recorded), though he prudently kept his personal observations to himself. After all, since they _were_ working fine together then, perhaps as time went on, the boys might be able to help each other in other things as well.

That was certainly the man's hope, anyway. Especially for Edward; that boy was too solitary and Maes _knew_ that he wasn't the only one that saw it.

Perhaps, the man thought, considering this new information, Head Mistress Dante might have an idea of what she was doing after all.

_To be continued..._


	9. Chapter 8: Perception

**Notes:** And I triumphantly return with another chapter! Sorry it took so long, I know some of you were getting impatient and my only excuse is that I just couldn't come up with what to do with this chapter. Never fear, though, I've picked up the plot again and I have that same basic idea of where I was going with it! The show must go on, as they say, and I've no intention of stopping now:D

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**Chapter 8: Perception**

As the term continued, chemistry easily became Alphonse's favorite class; it was his last class of the day, and it was the only time that he didn't have to listen to Edward's big mouth because both of them had come to a silent agreement that they would focus entirely on their lab experiment and _not_ talk. It was almost pleasant, working with him under these conditions and Alphonse was discovering that the older boy was, in fact, very intelligent; there would be times when he would be working out an equation on the assignment sheets and he swore Edward just glanced at the problem and a second later he'd have the answer. It was a bit of a blow to _Alphonse's_ ego, but he dealt with it because it was a better grade for him as well as it was for Edward.

Master Shou Tucker couldn't explain it. He'd been stuck with Edward for longer than the boy would probably like to admit, and each term Edward would fail in part because he was always at odds with his lab partner. Now he'd heard some of the gossip among the teachers about how poorly these two boys got along -- this was why he hadn't felt so bad about partnering them because if they already disliked each other then there was no need to set Edward up with someone who _didn't_ hate him yet and create _more_ problems.

And now come to find that the two worked better than any of the other groups. It probably helped that they were both quite intelligent, but it still just didn't make any sense, considering what Tucker had heard from the teachers and even a few students.

But, then again, who was he to argue?

Near the end of the period, Tucker looked up from the quizzes he'd been grading and decided to take a quick look around to see how the groups were faring. He slowly made his way down the aisles, checking in on the partners and how they were doing with the assignment, making corrections here and there to prevent any possible accidents.

Edward and Alphonse worked at the last occupied table in the room and Tucker watched the boys as he made his way over, silent without really meaning to be. Edward was bent over the assignment sheet and his notebook, scribbling away and Alphonse was on the opposite side of the table with his back to the teacher, so both were surprised when he came up beside them and asked them how they were getting along.

Alphonse was more surprised than Edward was and he nearly tipped over the burner he'd been lighting. Luckily the older blonde managed to reach out and stabilize it before it fell over and Alphonse breathed a sigh of relief. Two sets of light brown eyes turned to the teacher, the lighter almost golden ones glaring while the darker ones merely asked why Tucker had had to sneak up on them like that.

"Sorry about that," the man murmured in his almost eerily quiet voice with a twitch of his lips that might have been a smile if you looked closely enough. He pushed his glasses back up his nose, catching the glare of one of the overhead lights and masking his eyes for a moment. "I just wanted to see how you two were doing. Though, considering, I suppose that's really unnecessary."

"Considering _what_?" Edward asked, almost demanded, and Alphonse noted that the older boy hadn't turned back to his work yet. Odd, usually Edward didn't give anyone but Mustang this much attention.

Tucker chuckled hoarsely and lifted a hand in what was meant to be a calming gesture, "I only meant that you and Alphonse have been doing so well in class. It's hard to imagine that all that talk about how badly you two get along is true."

The two boy shared a Look but before anything more could be said, the bell rang indicating the end of classes for the day. All of a sudden the classroom was filled with chatter and the sound of stools scraping against the floor and equipment clanking against each other.

Edward and Alphonse did their best to ignore Tucker as he explained to the class that they'd pick up where they'd left off tomorrow. The boys cleaned up their table and grabbed their notebooks before leaving.

"He's so creepy," Alphonse muttered as they walked down the hallway heading toward their room to drop off their books and finish some of their homework before dinner. "Who just appears like that out of nowhere? It's not natural, being that quiet."

"The Guardians are that quiet," Edward pointed out almost off-handedly, and Alphonse was too taken up in the subject matter to be surprised.

"Yeah," the younger boy agreed but added with a grin, "But the Guardians are inhuman anyway, they're _supposed_ to be creepy. Master Tucker's just a teacher and has no _reason_ to be creepy."

Alphonse saw his roommate's expression falter for just a moment before he actually _smirked_; not the same unfriendly one he'd seen when Edward had tried to move the building, but an almost friendly after-sharing-a-joke one. Alphonse was conscious enough this time to be shocked.

The two boys continued up to their room in almost friendly conversation, sharing battle stories, as it were, of Tucker and his "creepiness." He always seemed to be watching you, they said, as if sizing you up for something; he was always so quiet and almost shy, but in a way that made him seem uncomfortable being around people; and yet he was always just a little too friendly and eager to please.

"As if he was trying to get on your good side before he hacked you up and gave you to the cafeteria to put into those meat patties," Alphonse joked.

"I wouldn't put it past him, "Edward agreed with an almost bitter smirk that Alphonse could see from his desk across the room. "It wouldn't be that hard for him either, considering."

Alphonse blinked at the other boy, not quite sure what he'd meant by that. "Considering _what_?"

The expression on Edward's face went from confused to surprised and, from the way he spun around in his chair back to his homework, Alphonse could only assume it was because he'd said something he hadn't meant to. And now the older boy was shutting up. Alphonse couldn't believe it! Here they were, finally speaking like normal human beings and _enjoying_ themselves and his stupid, uptight, paranoid roommate had to go and _ruin_ it! Well, Alphonse wasn't going to let Edward get away with it.

The younger boy turned entirely in his chair to face Edward and asked again, "Considering _what_, Ed?"

"Nothing," the other boy answered with a shrug, "Just some rumor."

Alphonse tried to think back on the rumors he'd heard about Tucker and somehow link them to what Edward had said, but he came up with nothing. So he asked.

"Just some rumor!" the other boy answered, getting more agitated.

"Well if it's just some rumor, then just _tell _me; I don't see what the big deal is."

Edward finally turned back around and _looked_ at his roommate, long and hard, as if he were one of the liquids they'd been trying to identify in chemistry. Whatever it was he'd been trying to determine, he apparently determined it was good because he turned back to his homework and began speaking again.

"It was before he came here," Edward explained, forcing his tone back into something more conversational, "Tucker was a licensed Alchemist, like some of the other teachers; only the keyword being '_was_.'" Alphonse asked what happened. "They found out he was doing illegal chimera experiments. People's pets had been going missing in his neighborhood and they found all of them in Tucker's basement in these cages all fused together, along with this woman and her daughter. It was her husband who'd figured it out, apparently, and went to the police."

Alphonse sat in stunned silence for a few moments and Edward didn't blame him. He'd been pretty sickened when he'd head it too. When the younger boy finally managed to speak, his voice was little more than a croak. "What-... What happened to all the animals? And the woman and her daughter?"

Edward shrugged. "The police said that all the chimeras were destroyed; but I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't keep some of the to experiment on. The one made out of the woman and her daughter... They said it died, I don't know, but they gave back the remains to the husband and he had a funeral for them."

"So then why is he _here_?"

"Headmistress Dante," Edward answered shortly, "He may be a criminal but he's also a genius and she wanted him here. So she showed up one day in court and cut a deal with the judge trying his case and they gave him a choice: Go to jail until his execution, or come work _here_. Guess which he chose," the older boy added wryly.

Alphonse couldn't believe it, but when he tried to remind himself that Edward had said it was only a rumor, he found he could believe _that_ even less. This didn't have the feel of a rumor -- there was too much information to it -- and besides, "I've never heard that rumor before..."

Edward didn't say anything, just tensed up a bit and turned back to his work.

A cold chill ran down the younger boy's spine and he forced himself to turn back to his work, though he wasn't focusing on it at _all_. What Ed had just told him...it _didn't_ seem like a rumor, which could only mean that it was actually _true_... Which was the most unsettling thing that Alphonse could think of.

"It's almost time for dinner."

The younger boy nearly jumped ten feet in the air but turned around to find Edward staring at him thoughtfully. And then his expression cracked into the closest thing Alphonse had seen to a smile on his roommate's face since he'd first met him.

"C'mon," Edward said, rising and heading for the door, "Let's go pick up everyone else."

Alphonse nearly smiled back, figuring that the older boy was trying to take his mind off of what he'd just been told and really appreciating it. Of course part of it was that Edward didn't want the younger boy saying anything about the story to anyone; no one was supposed to know that story and he wasn't even sure why he'd told _Alphonse_, but it was too late to take it back _now_.

The two boys headed up the hallway to pick up Russell, learning that Fletcher had come down with the cold that had been going around the school so the younger boy wouldn't be joining them. He'd insisted that his older brother go, though, so Russell followed Edward and Alphonse back down the hallway and up the stairs to find the girls. He couldn't help but notice that the tension that was normally in the air with the two other boys was all but gone, but Russell wasn't about to question it either. Whatever had happened between them, it had obviously been for the better.

When they finally arrived at the girls' floor, they could hear the commotion easily from even the stairwell. Someone was arguing, and loudly. As they got closer, Ed could pick out both Winry's and Panina's voices and, though his first instinct was that they were just having another argument, he quickly realized that this wasn't the same as their _usual_ arguments. What tipped him off was the sound of Envy's mocking voice, and apparently both Alphonse and Russell heard it too because all three boys were suddenly rushing down the hallway.

Sure enough, there he was, standing before Winry and Panina and their dormitory, with both girls glaring at him.

"The Headmistress has plausible reason to suspect," the Guardian was saying to the girls in a mockery of a calm tone, "So she has decided that you two should be moved to separate rooms. There's nothing you can do about it."

Panina growled and puffed up like a wolf trying to scare away an enemy in its territory, "That's not true, Headmistress Dante has no reason to suspect us of _anything_! And you can't just come prancing down here tell us she randomly decided she doesn't want us rooming together anymore and just expect us to be ready to move out in ten seconds! We have homework to do and dinner's about to start in a few minutes!"

Envy grinned slowly, jutting out his hip and resting his hand on it. "Well then," he all but purred, "I suggest you get moving."

Both girls looked about ready to eat the Sin's face off but they knew they couldn't do anything to him; and, worst of all, Envy knew it too.

Russell, Edward, and Alphonse watched the scene unfold from about halfway down the hallway along with a mob of other girls from the floor. Russell turned to one of them and asked if she knew what had happened.

"I'm not entirely sure," she answered, "I came out after they started shouting at each other. Near as I can tell, Headmistress Dante sent Envy up to get those girls to switch roommates."

"But _why_?" Russell urged.

The girl flushed and cleared her throat a bit uncomfortably. "Well," she explained, leaning closer to the tall blonde and lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, "I can't be sure, but some of the other girls talk about them sometimes. They say that they're...y'know, _with_ each other?" She paused as if trying to make sure that Russell knew what she meant. "And people have been talking about those two boys that had been...well..._with_ each other too and how Headmistress Dante had had them switch rooms. I figure it's probably the same thing."

Both Russell and Edward flushed when they heard that and Alphonse was a little surprised that his roommate hadn't attacked the girl. But Russell was too focused on Panina and Winry to bother. They both looked ready to do something about it, but before either of them could even formulate a plan, Alphonse was in action.

The blonde sprinted down the hallway just as he saw Envy make a grab for Winry, and he grabbed a pen from one of the girls who'd been doing their homework and then come out into the hallway to see what the commotion was about. With nothing else to draw on, Alphonse took the pen to his palm and pressed it to then pressed it to the floor. The array he'd drawn sparked to life and the blue energy crackled down the floor, heading straight for Envy. In an instant the rug opened up and swelled beneath the Guardian and he was only able to blink before he found himself wrapped up in it.

The entire hallway burst into laughter and other girls that had been hiding out in their dormitories even peeked out from behind their doors. Envy stood livid amongst them, his face flushed red, though whether it was from anger or embarrassment no one could tell.

"_You_," the Sin growled, turning to Alphonse and stalking towards him. Another roar of laughter went up in the students as he tripped over the long dress that the blonde had transmuted onto him and in a fit of rage Envy tore it off, hurling it at the forgotten Winry and Panina. "You little brat!" Envy hollered, grabbing the blonde by his collar and yanking him up from the floor. "_Dante_'ll deal with you, and I assure you, you won't get out of this without a _month_ in solitary confinement!"

And he was better than his word.

* * *

Word had spread all over the school about the brave blonde boy who'd dared mock the vicious Envy and, though some claimed he'd done it purely out of a need to rebel and others that he'd been rescuing the two girls that the Sin had been harassing, all agreed that it had taken a _lot_ of guts.

Edward couldn't go anywhere within the school without hearing tales and rumors about his roommate and he idly wondered as he sat down to breakfast, if this was how it was whenever _he_ was sent down to solitary confinement. Somehow he doubted it. Sure there were rumors about him, but since everyone expected that kind of behavior from him by now anyway they weren't _nearly_ as wide-spread or awe-inspiring as _this_. That thought bothered him more than he thought it should.

Yes, people expected this kind of behavior from _him_, even the Guardians and the faculty, and especially Head Mistress Dante. Alphonse, on the other hand, was the one always getting _praise_ from the faculty, and all of the students _loved_ him and, thought he couldn't say that the Guardians particularly liked _anyone_, they certainly didn't seem to have it in for the younger boy like they did Edward. So why had Alphonse done it? It was only going to _make_ the Guardians more likely to start looking for things they could throw him into solitary for, especially Envy. He should have just let Edward take care of it; it wasn't as if he didn't have the reputation already anyway.

"Ed stop your brooding already."

The blonde looked up and scowled at Winry who just rolled her eyes at him and turned back to her eggs. Panina took up the conversation, however. "Seriously, Ed, you've had that 'oh my god, what have I done, it's all my fault' look on your face since Al got sent down. What's wrong?"

"Well that's a pretty stupid question," Edward retorted, attacking a sausage with his spork.

Russell considered the older blonde for a moment before turning calmly back to his breakfast, "I don't think it is." He didn't have to look up to know that there was an expression of annoyed confusion on his former-roommate's face. "First of all, there's the fact that, no matter how you look at the situation, there's no way to plant the blame on _you_. It involved Envy and Winry and Panina and Alphonse got himself involved out of his own sense of duty to his friends. Honestly, Ed, you have the most twisted sense of logic I've ever encountered. Secondly, and I know we're all wondering the same thing, why do you care so much?"

"_What_!"

Edward looked around the table at the rest of his friends: Russell was still looking calmly down at his breakfast; Winry was still eating hers but was looking pointedly at _him_; Panina had stopped eating and was all-out _glaring_ at him; and Fletcher, Leo, and Rick were just blushing into their trays.

"What do you _mean_ why do I care?"

Panina gasped and pressed her hand to her chest, feigning shock, "What? You mean you don't _know_?" The look on his face said it all. "I can't believe he doesn't know. _Somebody_ please enlighten him," she cried, throwing up her hands in defeat and turning back to her breakfast, "I'm suddenly not in the mood to deal with his self-delusional _bull_shit."

Before Edward even got the chance to retort to that, Winry had pounced. "Think about it, Ed," the older girl said, glowering at him, "All Al ever tried to do was be friendly to you, and how did you react? You _didn't_, plain and simple. You completely ignored him! And didn't even give him a decent reason as to _why_! He doesn't _know_ you, Ed, because you haven't even said _one word_ to him since you _met_. Not one _decent_ word, anyway. For all appearances you _hate_ the kid, and the rest of us have been at a loss as to _why_. Maybe he just reminds you too much of _yourself_ when _you_ first came here." The girl allowed herself to feel pleased when Edward blushed and looked away. "I can only _imagine_ what sort of hell he's gone through having to _live_ with you."

"They're lab partners too," Russell pointed out.

Winry gaped and threw her hands up in an echo of Panina's gesture, "Well it's a wonder he hasn't _killed_ himself. _I_ probably would in his shoes." She turned to the darker-haired girl next to her and grabbed her wrist as she stood, "C'mon, Panina, we gotta finish that homework for Hawkeye."

The other girl stood without a word, only glancing at Edward and giving him an "I told you so" Look as she grabbed both her own and Winry's trays and followed the blonde out of the cafeteria.

Russell stood to leave as well and he nodded towards his brother who didn't even seem to need to _see_ the gesture before he took his tray and followed the older boy out. Rick and Leo, too, made a hasty exit, mumbling something about a group project and leaving Edward alone at the table, scowling at his half-eaten breakfast. He suddenly wasn't very hungry.

What were they all trying to say? That he hated Alphonse? They should have known better than that! All of them! Just because he never really talked to him. And had put up a fuss about having to move in with him. And had given him an attitude every time he _did_ happen to talk to him...

_Shit..._

And if the others, his _friends_, the people that _knew_ him, had thought that he hated Alphonse, then what in the world did _Alphonse_ think? He _didn't _hate him, he'd just never been particularly _polite_; but he was that way with just about _everyone_.

That brooding look that Winry had scolded him for only deepened by the time the first warning bell rang for first classes and Edward's entire demeanor was agitated as he went from class to class.

What if Alphonse really _did_ think he hated him? It would make sense, Edward realized, looking back on the tension that was always between them and comparing it to how comfortable the younger boy was with everyone _else_. It bothered him more than Edward liked to think, because he _didn't_ hate Alphonse and the thought that someone might actually think that he'd hate the younger boy for no good reason... It would make Edward no better than the likes of Envy or Wrath.

* * *

That day, Edward's teachers couldn't get much out of him, even less than they could normally, which told them that something was obviously wrong. They didn't push their luck.

Even Mustang spent most of the lesson actually _teaching_ instead of falling into a baiting match with his short blonde pupil.

Edward wasn't paying attention, though; he was thinking, though Roy couldn't tell what of, exactly. Though, if the way his gaze darted to Alphonse's chair every so often was any indication, he could only imagine it had something to do with the younger boy. He'd heard of the incident, of course, and though he was only able to put together details from various rumors and what _Envy_ had claimed had happened, Mustang couldn't help but be somewhat impressed.; he hadn't thought Alphonse capable of something like that.

As soon as the bell rang for the next period, Roy turned back to his desk and called Edward over before he got the chance to leave. That was fine by Edward because he hadn't planned on leaving anyway; he needed to ask Mustang something.

"What's going on?" the man asked once the room had cleared out and the door had closed.

Edward snorted in disbelief, "Don't tell me you haven't heard by now. I thought you _liked_ gossip." The comment only earned him a half-hearted glare and the blonde sighed and raked a hand through his bangs. "Envy was upstairs harassing Winry and Panina, trying to make them switch roommates when Al, Russell, and I went to get them for dinner. He was only doing it to justify making Al and _Russell_ switch rooms, and _we _all knew that. But before I got the chance to do anything about it, Al went ahead and," he paused with a short laugh, "Transmuted the rug under Envy into a dress _on_ Envy. Naturally Envy was a bit upset and so he dragged Al off to Dante and he got sentenced to a month and a half in solitary."

"'Sentenced'? Really, Edward, you make it sound as though this were a prison and Head Mistress Dante a warden."

"Well _isn't_ it?" he snapped at that damned grinning face. "We broke the law, right, Mustang? So we all got sent _here_ and we're not allowed out until we've done our time. The whole lot of you are our guards and Dante's the warden. I thought you _knew_ that already."

For just a moment, Edward thought he saw a sad smile break Mustang's normally cool facade, but it was gone almost before he got a second look.

"Well, Edward," Roy murmured, sitting down at his desk and pulling out his notepad to begin writing the student a note for Master Tucker to explain his lateness, "You know there's nothing you can do to get Alphonse out of this punishment."

"I know that. That's not what I wanted to ask you."

The man looked up from his desk and raised an eyebrow at Edward. "Oh? And what was it that you wanted to ask me?"

"I need a favor," the Edward said simply; Roy didn't look at all surprised,. Until he told him exactly what that favor was, "I need you to sneak me down to see Alphonse."

_To be continued..._


	10. Chapter 9: Sneaking Around

**Chapter 9: Sneaking Around**

"You need me to _what_?"

Edward's gaze didn't falter for a moment as he repeated the request, "I need you to sneak me down to see Alphonse."

Roy stared at the boy, trying to convince himself that Edward was joking or perhaps he'd just misunderstood. But no, he knew the blonde better than that. He carefully rested his elbows on his desk and steepled his fingers as he put back on his calm mask. "Might I ask what this is about, Edward?"

"You may _ask_, doesn't mean I'm gonna _answer_."

Mustang almost smirked. "You realize the danger of what you're asking me, don't you?"

Edward just rolled his eyes and turned to lean back against the man's desk. "Yeah, well it's not like they can _expel_ me or anything. They'll just throw _me_ back down there for another few weeks if they find out, big deal."

"With the way you talk, Edward, one might almost suspect that you _enjoy_ it in solitary confinement."

Edward couldn't see the frown on his teacher's face, but he could imagine it. "I can't really complain," the blonde shrugged, "It gives me time to think without having someone looking over my shoulder all the time."

"Perhaps not _all _the time," Roy muttered, and Edward was too angered by the statement to notice the bitter tone in the man's voice.

The boy whirled back around and glared at Mustang who only regarded him coldly. Edward snorted and shook his bangs out of his eyes. "So are you going to help me or not? If not I'll just find another way to get down there myself."

Roy scowled but nodded, "I will speak to Lust; but understand that this is not going to be as simple as smuggling notes and food back and forth. You'll have to give us some time to figure something out, a plan of action." The man lifted his gaze back to Edward to make sure he was truly _listening_ as he added, "If Lust says there is no way, then there _is_ no way and you are _not _to try it on your own. Do you understand me, Edward?"

"Yeah sure, whatever," Edward shrugged and plucked his lateness excuse note from Roy's desk on his way out without another word, leaving his teacher wondering just what the hell he was going to do about this.

* * *

Not a word of the plan was spoken to anyone else since neither Edward nor Roy could be certain when someone else might be listening in. They didn't even speak to each _other_ about it until a few days later when Roy came to Edward with Lust's decision.

"So she'll do it?" the blonde asked impatiently once the door to Roy's office was closed. He wouldn't have taken them in there if she wasn't going to do it.

"The only way to get you down there is for you to be punished as well," the man explained, not bothering to actually answer the question. This didn't seem to surprise Edward so Roy just continued, "Tomorrow morning, Lust is going to be doing the rounds on the boy's floors of the dormitory."

"So I harass her and get myself sent down. Simple enough. Anything else? She got any preferences or anything?"

Mustang gave the blonde a look that wiped the smirk off of his face. Once he was sure he was being taken seriously again he continued, "When you are taken down to the isolation rooms, she'll place you in the room with Alphonse and then take you out once your punishment is up. Whatever do to Lust, _don't_ overdo it. It should be something that will send you down there for about a day; anything more and she can't guarantee that no one else will get involved."

This all made sense and Edward nodded but there was something more pressing on his mind. "What about Envy?"

Roy knew exactly why Edward was concerned about the Guardian and Lust had as well. The man hadn't even needed to mention it to her before she'd assured him, "Lust says she can keep him away, but only for a certain amount of time. That's why you _must _be out of there within two days at the _most_."

The blonde gave one last nod and let his arms uncross. "That it?"

"That's it." Roy watched as his student turned to leave. Suddenly, though, he was just a bit worried about the blonde leaving and following the ridiculous plan. "Edward, wait."

The young man turned around to see Mustang standing behind his desk and he raised an eyebrow at the man.

Roy knew that whatever warnings he had to give the blonde would just be laughed off so he cut it down as much as possible. "Don't do anything stupid."

Edward just snorted, rolled his eyes, and walked out of the office, leaving Roy to his thoughts.

This was a completely dangerous business, far more than the other stunts that Edward had pulled before. To not only break the solitary confinement of another student, thereby risking _himself_, but to risk also the Headmistress discovering that he'd been helped by a teacher and one of her own Guardians? Roy wasn't certain what Dante would do if they were discovered but he knew it wouldn't be good for he and Lust, at the very least. What he was really worried about, though, was what would happen to Edward without he and Lust covering for him.

But that sort of thinking was completely unproductive and wouldn't do Edward, Roy, _or_ Lust any good. Of course, neither would merely hoping that things went along as planned, but Mustang had already done his part and that was all that was left for him to do.

* * *

There was a certain air about Edward when he was up to something, though Russell was sure that he was the only one that noticed it that morning. That could have been because Fletcher was the only other with them, though, and he rarely noticed things like that.

The older blonde was tense, though, seeming to be waiting for something while still remaining fairly cocky. That wasn't unusual since the shorter boy _always_ seemed to be cocky, but this time, or_ whenever_ he was up to something, it was seemingly focused on whatever Edward was waiting for. Which turned out to be the Guardian, Lust.

"Going to breakfast, boys?" the woman asked, surprising all three of them when she seemed to materialize out of nowhere behind them. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I scare you?"

Russell, wanting to just get his brother away from the woman, was cut off by his former roommate.

"Only if it's true that you were once a man."

Lust's gaze snapped to the oldest of the group, her eyebrow merely raised in challenge. "Is that so?" she asked calmly. "That's interesting, considering what I've learned about _you_."

Edward's face turned bright red and Russell watched as the gears worked in his head. What in the world was the little shrimp up to? And why did he have to get Russell and Fletcher involved? The taller boy had half a mind to just take his brother and leave Edward to whatever scheme he'd thought up _this_ time. Unfortunately, he had this annoying sense of responsibility towards his former roommate.

"Edward," he warned quietly, "let's just go to breakfast."

"No can do," the shorter boy replied and he stepped away from the brothers towards Lust. "So, how exactly is that any business of yours?" he asked the Sin.

"You should know better than that, Edward. _Everything _is our business."

"Is that so?" he retorted, crossing his arms over his chest. "Then that has to go both ways, doesn't it? After all, it's not really fair to _us_ not knowing anything about our guards, is it? So tell me, Lust, were you really _that_ bad of an alchemist that you caused a rebound that cut your dick off?"

Russell watched the Guardian carefully as his former roommate spoke, noting that the moment her expression turned positively livid, Fletcher ducked behind him. He didn't blame the younger boy with the Lust was glaring at Edward and, without another word she surged forward and grabbed the short blonde by the arm and disappeared down the hallway with him. Russell and Fletcher stared after them both but it was the older brother that voiced what they were both thinking, "What the hell was _that _all about? And what's he up to now?"

* * *

Of course, by the time the bell had rung signaling the end of breakfast and the beginning of classes, nearly everyone in the school was talking about what had happened between Lust and Edward. Well, various versions of it anyway, and most of them centering on the very last question the blonde had asked Lust before she'd taken him away.

Edward, however, wasn't there to enjoy the rekindling of his popularity since, as usual, he was being escorted down to the isolation rooms for his punishment. The only difference, of course, was that the isolation room wasn't isolated this time.

Alphonse wasn't entirely sure how long he'd been down there since it was hard to tell time when the only light you had was a dim hanging lamp instead of a window. Even if he could tell by when he got tired, all of the days just seemed to melt together anyway. Besides, with nothing to do but think, Alphonse found himself getting tired more often than just at bedtime. Or, at least, he _thought_ it was. He just wasn't sure anymore.

However long it had been though, Alphonse was almost _positive_ that the time hadn't come yet for him to be released. This was why he found himself watching the heavy metal door when he heard it unlock. His punishment wasn't over yet -- it _couldn't _be over yet -- so there should have been no need for anyone to unlock that door. Not unless something was wrong. But what on Earth could be wrong enough that they break his solitary confinement?

Alphonse wasn't really sure who it was he'd been expecting to see once the door opened, but the person that _was_ there surprised him.

Lust held the heavy door open with one hand with the other resting on her hip as she gazed into the small room at the boy. She didn't say anything and Alphonse was far too uncertain of what was even going _on_ to say anything. Finally, still without a word, Lust stepped aside towards the door to reveal . . . his roommate.

"Edward?" the younger blonde gaped and started at the dry, cracked sound of his own voice. Had it really been that long since he'd even _spoken_?

Edward didn't answer except to lift a silencing finger to his lips as he stepped past the threshold and Lust. He shared a glance with the Guardian and she merely said that she'd be back tomorrow morning before shutting and locking both boys in. The older boy waited at the door listening to the fading sound of Lust's footsteps until it was completely silent outside. Then, he turned to Alphonse.

The younger boy just sat in the corner of his little isolation room, staring at his roommate and wondering if he was hallucinating or dreaming or something.

"You look like Hughes when I told him that Gracia was married."

"Ms. Gracia's married?"

"No," Edward smirked and crossed the room to sit down beside the younger boy. "But you look like him when I told him that."

Alphonse blushed as he watched Edward lean back against the wall behind them, crossing his arms behind his head. How could he be so _casual_? He'd just walked into Alphonse's isolation room, escorted by Lust, and all he could do was make fun of him? Well, maybe things hadn't changed as much as he'd thought. The younger blonde was too confused about what exactly was going on to worry about how well they were or weren't getting along anyway.

"Why are you here?" he asked suspiciously. "_How_ are you here? What's going on?"

Well, Edward supposed that he couldn't really blame his roommate for being curious about all of that. After all, it wasn't everyday that a student broke another student's solitary confinement, let alone one of the students with the help of a _Sin_.

"I figured you were getting kinda bored," he replied with a shrug which was at least partly the truth. Even for him there was only so much sitting and thinking someone could take. Apparently Alphonse wasn't buying it, though, raising his eyebrow at the older boy. Edward sighed and kicked his feet out in front of him. "There was something bothering me," he admitted instead.

The other boy was still just staring almost blankly at him and it was making Edward uncomfortable. Why didn't he say anything? Or at least _move_.

"_What_?" the older blonde snapped finally.

Alphonse didn't seem phased at all, but he _did_ answer, "You still haven't told me how you got here."

Oh. Right. That.

Edward hesitated -- for a long time -- because . . . well, he just wasn't sure if he could _trust_ his roommate with that kind of information. If it had been his _old_ roommate . . . Well, actually, he wasn't sure he would have trusted him either. There was a major problem with trust in the school though Edward at least had to admit that may have been because there were very few chances for anyone to prove their trustworthiness. Alphonse, though . . . Well, Alphonse had had a few chances to prove himself and he hadn't really given the older boy much reason _not_ to trust him. Except that he didn't really _know_ Alphonse that well. Of course, that was really partly his own fault.

"Edward?"

The older boy blinked up as he realized that he'd zoned out without meaning to. He just shook his head and slouched back against the wall. "You saw," he answered simply, "Lust brought me down."

"No, really?" Alphonse drawled. "Why did she bring you _here_ though?"

Edward gave his roommate a pointed look. "'Cause I _asked_ her to."

The other boy looked at him in bewilderment and he wasn't sure if that was because he'd asked Lust to bring him down there or because he'd asked Lust to bring him down there or because she _had_. Probably both. He didn't ask any further though, so Edward didn't need to come up with any stories.

"So," Alphonse asked after a long silence, "have I missed anything interesting while I've been down here?"

Edward shrugged, "Not unless you like listening to stupid rumors about yourself."

"Rumors? About _me_? Like what?"

Edward couldn't believe that his roommate didn't realize that there would be rumors all over the place about what had happened. Especially since it had to do with Envy.

"You didn't really think that you could do something like that in front of an entire floor of girls without the entire place hearing about it, did you?" The shorter boy smirked at his roommate. "Everyone's heard at least _some_ version of what happened by now."

"What do you mean 'some version of what happened'?"

That actually made him laugh. Was Alphonse really _that_ naive? "You can't be serious. Come _on_, Al. By now, only you, me Russell, Winry, and Panina know what really happened."

"And Envy."

"Yeah, him too."

Alphonse's interest seemed to have been piqued and he leaned forward slightly. "So what's everyone been saying about it?"

"Oh, the usual," Edward replied casually. "They're pretty much split down the middle trying to figure out if you were being heroic or just trying to show off."

Hearing that, Alphonse just stared at him. "Why would I do something like _that_ just to show off?"

That was a very good question and one only those idiots that had come up with the theory could have answered. "Don't ask _me_. I'm not the one that came up with any of it."

"I didn't say you did."

The two boys just stared at each other for a few moments, Alphonse wondering why the other was there and Edward just trying to figure his roommate out. It was the younger boy who finally looked away, his cheeks a bit red but Edward wasn't sure if he might have been imagining it -- the light wasn't great in the little room.

"Why do _you_ think I did it?"

The question was asked so quietly that Edward might have missed it if the entire place hadn't been so quiet. He'd actually been pondering that very same question since it had happened, never really coming to an answer. It had been obvious, at least to _him_, that Alphonse hadn't been trying to show off and he couldn't imagine that anyone who knew the younger boy would actually believe that either. But the only other options were that either Alphonse had done it to get back at Envy for something (which didn't seem right either) or that he had done it simply to help Winry and Panina. But why would he do something like that? Why would he risk himself like that for two girls he hadn't even known for a year? It hadn't been as if they'd really been in trouble, they were just getting new room assignments -- no reason to dress the most notorious Guardian of them all in drag. No reason to get yourself sent down to solitary confinement for a month and a half.

"I'm not sure," he answered finally. "I haven't really been able to figure that out. Guess that was part of the reason I came down here."

Alphonse raised an eyebrow at him. "To find out why I did it?" The older boy nodded and he just shook his head. _That_ was why he'd gone through all of that trouble to get down there? Edward was even stranger than he'd thought.

"So why _did_ you?"

Well, it wasn't as if it was a dangerous question, really, so there was no real harm in answering. "Why _wouldn't_ I have? I mean, Envy was harassing them and it's not like anyone ever cared _before_ that they shared a room. The only reason he did _now_ was because of what Headmistress Dante did to us and Russell."

"You figured that out too, huh?"

Alphonse gave him a Look. "Y'know, I may not be as intelligent as _you_, but it only takes a bit of common sense to figure _that_ out. _And_ that they didn't have any reason to move _us_ but there's not much can do about it _now_."

"You didn't want to be moved?" Edward asked curiously.

"_You_ didn't _either_. And I _liked_ rooming with Fletcher."

"Guess I can't blame you for that. He's really not that difficult to get along with."

"No, he's not."

There was something the younger boy's tone, a slight emphasis on the word "he," that told Edward something was being implied about _him_. He smirked. "You saying I _am_?"

"Are you saying you're _not_?"

Well . . . there was really nothing that Edward could say to that. Even if _he_ didn't think that he was difficult to get along with, there was no way that he could deny that _other_ people thought he was difficult to get along with and, since the blonde just didn't have to get alone with himself, he really had to take other people's words for it.

"I guess not."

Alphonse seemed satisfied with this response so Edward let the topic drop. Unfortunately, the younger boy seemed to still be curious. Well, he knew that he'd brought it upon himself, really.

"So," the other boy began, his voice somewhat hesitant, "you seem to really get along with Russell and Winry and everyone but . . . Well, I just don't get it. Why not anyone else? I mean, you don't seem to ever give anyone else a chance."

That had been completely unexpected and, once again, Edward found himself without an answer except for an indignant stutter, "I-I give people chances! What're you talking about?"

"I thought it was pretty straightforward but fine, let's just go with the idea that you _do _give people besides Winry, Panina, Russell, and Fletcher chances. I'm willing to believe it, really. I guess what I'm really asking, then, is why you don't give _me_ chances."

The look the younger boy was giving him made Edward squirm, especially considering the question he'd just been asked. Well, he supposed he hadn't really been asked a question so much as Alphonse had just demanded an answer from him. An answer that he wasn't sure he was ready to give.

"What are you talking about?" he asked finally, deciding to feel the younger boy out first. "I've given you chances. We're lab partners, aren't we?"

"Only because you came late to class and I was the only left who need a partner."

"Yeah, well, I told you about Tucker, didn't I?"

"While trying to convince me it was a rumor."

"I still told you, though! That shows a lot of trust! I never even told _Russell_ about that."

Alphonse looked as if he'd been about to say something, but he stopped himself and, since they were the only ones in the room, Edward had no idea why. He was being stared at again, though, as if he were a faulty array that Alphonse was just figuring out how to make work.

"You really never told Russell about Tucker?"

Edward shook his head.

"So why'd you tell_ me_?"

A shrug. "You asked."

"And Russell never did?" Alphonse seemed flabbergasted by this, but it was true.

"Russell hasn't asked questions in years."

"Why?"

"And sometimes you ask too _many_ questions."

The younger boy flushed again and he turned away, leaving Edward feeling somewhat guilty.

"Look, it's not my story to tell. IF you really wanna know then ask _him_ when you get outta here."

That was fair enough and Alphonse agreed silently. That didn't mean that the questioning was over, though.

Alphonse looked up at his roommate again and considered his words before he finally asked, "Edward? The thing about Tucker. That means that it really _was_ true? He really did all of those things?"

"Yeah," Edward answered grimly, "Dante's got it all in her file on him. It probably would've been all over the newspapers but you know how they always try to cover up illegal chimera stories. This one was no different. Besides, Dante would've found a way to have the story buried or discredited anyway -- it wouldn't be very good publicity for everyone to know you have a murderer watching over kids, no matter _how_ screwed up you claim they are."

The entire situation left a foul taste in Edward's mouth (though there was little about the school that didn't) and, from the look of things, Alphonse tasted it too. Edward couldn't blame him at all. It was a bad state of affairs to say the very _least_ and he knew that if just _one person_, just _one_ of the Headmistress' supporters knew about Tucker and Kimbley and Yoki and, even more importantly, the Guardians, then the Yock Island Correctional School would finally close its doors for good. the problem, of course, was getting all of this information not just to the right person, but getting out _period_.

Those contemplations were doomed to be repeated over and over again, though, so there was no need to dwell on them right at that moment. Alphonse was intent on not letting the older boy either.

"There's been something that's been bothering me," he said, staring out at his hands, "since that first time you came back from solitary confinement after I first came here." There was no answer so Alphonse took the silence as an okay to continue. "Why didn't you ever ask me why I was sent here?"

Edward decided that that had to have been the most random question he'd ever heard but, then again, who was he to talk? He'd just gone to visit someone in solitary confinement who everyone thought he hated.

"Why?" he replied. "Did you really want to tell me?"

"Not really."

"Well then what's the problem?"

That was a very good question. What's the problem? What _was_ the problem? No, Alphonse hadn't really wanted to tell the older boy but . . . he _did_ remember wanting him to at least _ask_. Why? "Because you just seemed like you didn't care at all. Like I was some smear of food on the table or something. It would've been nice if you'd shown _some_ interest. It wasn't exactly a great first impression."

He really had seemed _that_ cold, hadn't he? Edward looked back on his behavior and cringed, but he hadn't known if he could _trust_ Alphonse enough!

"Alright," he replied, turning so that he was facing the younger boy. "Alphonse, why were you sent here?"

Now that was more like it, even though he _had_ had to practically demand it. Now that the question had been asked, though, Alphonse was suddenly unsure if he actually wanted to answer it. Looking at Edward, though, he remembered that the older boy had been honest with him so far, so it was only fair that he be as well.

Taking a long, deep breath, Alphonse tried to relax and remember that no one could judge him since he'd already been tried and sentenced. Besides, it was just Edward and maybe the older boy might feel like sharing as well.

Finally he found it in him to speak for the first time about the sin that he had committed -- or _nearly_ committed -- to get him sent to the school. "A few months ago, my mother died. My father had died when I was just a baby so the only person I had left was my Alchemy teacher. _She_ was the one who found me before I nearly killed myself."

_-To be continued_


	11. Chapter 10: Reasons

**Chapter 10: Reasons

* * *

**

When Alphonse was just a young boy, he'd found a book in the library that had been misplaced in the fiction shelves which he'd been looking through. It was called, simply, _Alchemy_ but, when young Alphonse tried to borrow it, he wasn't allowed to. He was told by the librarian that it actually belonged in the restricted section and only licensed alchemists could borrow it. Young Alphonse asked how he could become a licensed alchemist. The librarian told him that he had to find himself a teacher who was already a licensed alchemist, study _very_ hard and then, when he turned eighteen, he could take a test and, if he passed this test, then would get his alchemist's license. Then he could go into the restricted section whenever he wanted and borrow any books in there that he wanted.

Having forgotten all about the novel he'd been looking for, young Alphonse hurried home where he'd found his mother setting out the day's wash to dry before her customers came to pick it up. He ran up to her and told her all about what had happened at the library and what the librarian had told him. Little Alphonse asked his mother -- _begged_ her -- to find him an alchemy teacher so that he could learn alchemy and get his alchemist's license.

"I'm sorry," his mother had said, "but I'm afraid we just don't have the money right now to pay for a teacher. Maybe when you're a little older."

Young Alphonse was understandably disappointed but he was used to such disappointments, even at such a young age. So his life continued as it had before, going to school in the mornings, stopping by the library in the afternoon for a new book, helping his mother fold the day's laundry after he returned, and then reading until he fell asleep. Once in a while the schedule would change and he would play with his friends but this was just young Alphonse's life. Until his next birthday.

Little Alphonse and his mother had been saving up all year for his birthday party. There were balloons and hats and streamers and his mother had even baked a beautiful and absolutely delicious smelling chocolate cake just _covered_ in sparkling candles with one in the center in the shape of a seven. Everything was absolutely perfect, there was just one thing missing. The guests.

Little Alphonse had invited his closest friends to the party, but due to the unexpected rainstorm, no one had been able to show up. Alphonse had been _so_ disappointed, even though his mother kept assuring him that all they had to do was tell the other children that they should come tomorrow instead. That made him feel a little better, but it just wouldn't be the same, celebrating his birthday on a day that _wasn't_ his birthday.

He and his mother tried to make the best of the situation, though, and she cooked him his favorite meal for dinner and even let him eat some of the cake for dessert, promising that shed simply bake another for the party the next day. Just as she'd been about to let him open his present, however, they were both surprised by a loud knock on the front door. They hadn't been expecting anyone due to the rain but, sure enough, when little Alphonse's mother opened the door, they saw two drenched strangers standing there.

Young Alphonse's mother invited them both in, though the large behemoth of a man scared young Alphonse and he clung to his mother's skirt. Their names were Izumi and Sieg Curtis, the woman explained and accepted his mother's offer of tea and birthday cake. They'd been on their way back to Dublith when their train had been cancelled thanks to the weather effecting the nearby river. They'd walked from the train station and tried to find an inn to stay in for the night until the flooding went down, but there just hadn't been any and the conditions had gotten worse outside. But it was no trouble, young Alphonse's mother had assured them. She was very glad to help.

As it turned out, however, their visitors were even more help in the end.

The storm had been picking up outside, making everyone _inside_ increasingly nervous. The rain was bashing against the house, the thunder shaking the ground and, soon, the tree just outside the kitchen was struck by lightning. It remained standing somehow, but at such a precarious angle that it looked as if it would fall over at any moment. And it did. The wind picked up to dangerous speeds and the tree tipped over, crashing into the kitchen and strewing glass, wood, and other debris everywhere.

Little Alphonse's mother just didn't know what to do. Even if the storm ended soon, the kitchen couldn't stay like that. Unfortunately she also just didn't have the money to pay for such extensive repairs. She was at a complete loss for what to do and the kitchen was quickly filling with water from all of the rain, and the wind was bringing in dirt and debris from outside. It was just a complete mess and there was nothing that she could do about it.

So, Izumi stepped forward. The stranger asked young Alphonse and his mother to step back a bit, away from the kitchen, to give her some room. Once the kitchen was cleared of people, Izumi clapped her hands together, pressed them to the floor, and the room covered in what appeared to be blue lightning. Young Alphonse stood transfixed as he watched the blue lightning encompass everything and make it all begin to move and repair itself seamlessly. The broken window looked brand new again and the wall seemed just as it always had been. The dents in the floor and wood-burning stove were gone, as if they'd never even been there in the first place. And, finally, the tree chopped itself up into firewood and rested itself by the stove.

Both little Alphonse and his mother were in awe. Little Alphonse's mother wanted to somehow repay Izumi for what she'd done but both she and her husband assured her that it was nothing and she should just consider it payment for allowing the couple to spend the night. Since Izumi seemed a bit ill and weak, though, the four of them retired to the living room once more and took up another conversation.

Little Alphonse couldn't have told you anything about it, however, since he was too busy forming a plan in his head. It had been the first time that he'd ever seen alchemy and he just _knew_ that this would be his one and only chance to ever learn it. So, the next time the conversation seemed to have lagged, young Alphonse asked Izumi if she would please teach him alchemy.

Izumi looked him over thoughtfully for a moment but turned away saying that she didn't take on students. Well of course she didn't, his mother said and apologized for his abruptness and assumptions. Little Alphonse ignored his mother and tried again, assuring Izumi that he would work _really_ hard and everyone told him that he was very smart so he would learn quickly. Hoping to deter him, Izumi asked how the little boy was planning on paying her since, after all, a little boy couldn't _possibly_ have the money to hire an alchemy teacher. Young Alphonse's eyebrows furrowed and he looked to his mother who merely flushed and patted his head, reminding him that they couldn't afford something like that right then.

Little Alphonse frowned sadly but nodded, climbing into his mother's lap. He'd been _so close_ too.

What he hadn't realized, however, was that Izumi had been watching him -- especially his reaction to his mother's words. He'd been truly disappointed and she knew exactly how he felt. She believed him that he was serious about learning alchemy and they certainly weren't going to find many people willing to not charge them to teach young Alphonse.

"Two days later, I was on a train with Izumi and Sieg on our way to Dublith."

"Your mom stayed behind?"

Alphonse nodded and Edward couldn't help but notice that he appeared just a bit guilty about that; and he thought he had an idea as to why. "So what happened?"

"She was my teacher for six years. She and Sieg owned a butcher shop and I helped out there to pay for the lessons. She let me visit home at holidays, but otherwise I was only able to write letters to my mom. The letters just stopped coming one day, though, and about two weeks later, I got one from one of our neighbors saying that she'd died."

The two boys fell silent for a few moments, Edward simply waiting for his roommate to be ready to finish his story, though he had the feeling that he already knew the ending.

"You tried to bring her back."

Alphonse blinked up at the older boy, surprised, apparently, that he'd been able to figure it out. "Not exactly," he said quietly, hoping that the dimness of the light would help mask the tears in his eyes. "I almost did. I researched for _months_ behind my teacher's back. I just wanted to see my mom again so _bad_ because I didn't even get to see her before she got sick. Izumi found my notes, though, and stopped me before I was able to do anything."

Edward studied the younger boy carefully while a long silence stretched out between them. He'd had a feeling that the reason that Alphonse was in the school had to have been something like that.

"So you didn't really go through with it?"

Alphonse shook his head and the older boy hesitated before asking, "Do you think you would've if she hadn't stopped you?"

Alphonse looked up at him again, but almost immediately dropped his eyes back to the floor. "I don't know," he said, furrowing his eyebrows. "By the time she got to me, I already had the array drawn out in my room in her house. I hesitated, though, for a while. I'm not sure how long, but enough for Izumi to find and stop me."

"Why did you stop?"

Silence. And then, "I guess I was scared."

Edward could understand this completely, considering all of the stories about attempted human transmutations. None of these stories inspired confidence.

"I don't blame you," the older boy murmured, leaning back against the wall and staring at the door across from him. "It's pretty scary."

Once again Alphonse looked at him in surprise, though he didn't seem as surprised as he probably should have been. It seemed the younger boy had picked up on a few things, himself. He didn't even have to ask any questions; Edward could see it all on his face.

"It was my mom too, only there was no one around to stop me."

"You mean you actually went _through_ with it?"

He nodded.

"And you actually survived . . . "

Edward could hear what sounded like awe in his roommate's voice. That was a bad thing. If people were going to be awed by him, he didn't want it to be because he'd lived through something like that. Besides, it wasn't as if he'd come out unscathed.

Leaning forward, away from the wall, Edward silently stripped off his grey uniform jacket. Alphonse was surprised by the movement and watched in confusion as the jacket was dropped to the floor. Then, his roommate unbuttoned the cuff of his shirt and began rolling up his right sleeve, revealing a completely mechanical arm.

Surprise turned into shock and Alphonse wondered how he'd never noticed that his roommate had an automail limb but, as he watched Edward remove his glove, he realized: He was always wearing those gloves. This wasn't entirely unusual since they were a part of the uniform and every student at the school wore them throughout the day. But not many of them wore them to bed as well. Alphonse had barely even noticed the quirk, having been intent on not paying attention to his roommate as much as possible. The glimpse of metal beneath Edward's rolled up left leg pant was more easily explained since the older boy was always in long pants and socks, which wasn't at all unusual.

Then, Alphonse remembered that Edward was only fifteen and had been a student at the school for several years, from what he'd heard. So that had to mean . . . "How old were you?"

Edward gave him that gauging look that Alphonse was becoming so accustomed to before he answered, "Eleven."

That was . . . How was that even _possible_? Not only had Edward survived an attempted human transmutation, the most dangerous alchemy known, but he'd done it at the extraordinarily young age of _eleven_!

"You really are incredible . . . "

And here Edward had thought showing the younger boy what had happened to him would prevent that sort of reaction. He stared down at his hand, watching his mechanical fingers clench and unclench. "You think that just 'cause I managed to survive?"

"That's reason enough, isn't it? and the fact that you were so _young_." Alphonse just couldn't believe it. "You're probably the youngest person to ever survive that."

"Yeah," Edward snorted bitterly, clenching his automail hand, "what an accomplishment."

Edward could feel his roommate's eyes on him with that same measuring look he'd given _him_ so often. He was trying to figure out why he was so bitter about it, but the older thought that it _must_ be obvious.

"You didn't succeed."

"That's a stupid question."

Although it had been more a of a statement than a question, Alphonse had to agree. Of _course_ he hadn't succeeded. No one ever had. That was why Alphonse had hesitated in the end -- he'd just been too afraid.

"So . . . what happened then?" he asked. "I mean, you lost your arm and leg, _and_ all of the elements, right? So you must have gotten something in return. Equivalent Exchange: You can't have given up all of that and gotten nothing in return."

Edward forced down a shudder. "Oh, I got something alright."

"What was it?"

"I'll tell you this much: It sure as hell wasn't human."

Alphonse looked as if he wanted to ask again, so the older boy cut him off. That, he was not ready to tell him. Or anyone. "So your teacher turned you in?"

The younger boy nodded. "She brought me over to the military but asked that I be sent here."

He wasn't entirely sure why, but the older boy seemed surprised by this and Alphonse asked him what was wrong.

"Why would she want you to be sent here?"

"She said she went here when she was younger, and it helped her," he answered with a shrug.

Izumi. Of course, how could he not have realized? She hadn't been Izumi _Curtis_ back then, but he still recognized the name. And how ironic that Alphonse, who had nearly attempted a human transmutation, should turn out to have been Izumi's student. Or maybe she'd been teaching her student something that she shouldn't have.

"Edward," the younger boy asked, cutting off his roommate's thoughts, "when you got sent down here the last time -- when you tried to move the building -- you didn't use an array." Alphonse had the look of someone who was just figuring out an extremely difficult puzzle. "And those little balls you were flicking at Master Mustang. It _was_ alchemy, wasn't it? I thought it was but I didn't see any array."

Well, there was no way of getting around it. Besides that it wasn't as if he'd done much to hide that particular ability from anyone.

"How is that possible? How are you and my teacher able to perform alchemy without an array?" No matter how hard he tried, Alphonse just couldn't think of a way that _anyone_ should be able to do something like that. It was defied all the laws of alchemy that he'd been taught!

Edward looked up at his roommate. He didn't want to get into it. In fact, the less people that knew how he managed to use alchemy without an array, the better. There were too many people out there that would misuse an ability like that. But, then again, Alphonse definitely didn't seem like that type, or the type that would attempt to perform such dangerous alchemy just to be able to perform array-less alchemy. He was just . . . curious.

"Your teacher never told you?" he asked carefully.

Alphonse shook his head. "She never even did it after we got to Dublith. Not in front of _me_ anyway."

"She was probably just trying to protect you."

The younger boy gazed questioningly at him.

Edward sighed. "The reason I'm able to perform alchemy without an array is the same reason I'm here."

"You mean . . . the human transmutation?" The older boy nodded. "I don't get it. Why would performing human transmutation make you able to not use an array?"

It was a perfectly understandable question. The only problem was that Edward wasn't sure he could answer it. "I'm not sure, exactly, but something happens when you do and . . . I dunno. You just learn how, okay?" Along with quite a few other things that he wished he hadn't learned.

Alphonse got the feeling that his roommate thought he didn't believe him, though he couldn't figure out why that would be. He'd _seen_ Edward perform array-less transmutations and he had no reason to think that he was lying. The older boy was really so much more amazing than he'd thought and it made Alphonse feel just a bit vindicated for all the time he'd spent watching Edward and trying to figure him out. It would have been somewhat disappointing to find out that there had been absolutely nothing interesting about his roommate.

"Edward?"

Without even really thinking, the older boy sighed and said, "Y'know, you don't have to call me Edward. Ed's fine."

Alphonse, to his surprise, smiled at him. "I was just wondering. When you did the transmutation . . . were you scared?"

Edward seemed to sure of himself and undeterable that Alphonse couldn't imagine that he had been even a _little_ scared. It made the younger boy feel almost silly for not even being able to go through with his own plans. Edward was just so strong and incredible and Alphonse . . . was weak and unremarkable.

To his surprise, though, Edward looked down at his automail hand and nodded.

So then it was true. Edward really was human. Even someone as powerful and confident as the older boy was had been frightened in the face of such dangerous and uncertain alchemy.

"Hey, Ed."

"Yeah, Alphonse?"

The younger boy smiled at him again and shrugged. "You can call me Al."

_-To be continued_


	12. Chapter 11: Clashes

**Notes: **Alright, I know this is really late and it's kinda short, but at least it's up in time for the holidays:D? So Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy New Year, and just generally have a nice (really really warm o.O) winter :)

* * *

**Chapter 12: Clashes**

No more deep, dark secrets were exchanged that night; though, while for Alphonse that was because he _had_ no other deep, dark secrets to tell, he got the sense that Edward was still keeping things from him. That was fine, though; he'd already said so much and his emotions seemed as worn as Alphonse's own. The rest of the day (at least Edward had told him it was day) was spent in friendly, nonsense conversation about any silly thing and every silly thing that came to mind until neither of them could keep their eyes open. It felt almost like a sleepover and they back at home. Almost.

Lust came with the morning, waking the two boys who were sound asleep on the hard floor. Alphonse and Edward said their goodbyes and the older boy followed the Guardian out of the small cell and back up to what passed for civilization there on Yock Island.

* * *

It wasn't quite breakfast yet but, as usual, there was a long line of students waiting in front of the cafeteria for the doors to open when Lust dropped Edward off there. Russell, Winry, Panina, and Fletcher were just getting in line when he arrived and he went to join them, seemingly much more content than when he'd been taken away the day before.

"Well, wouldja look who's back," Panina said, smirking at the boy. "Again."

Edward just smirked right back at her and fell in line beside them.

"Looks like _someone_ enjoyed their visit to solitary."

"Did you really, Shorty? I'm truly hurt.

The four friends turned, two of them backing away from Envy, the other two simply glaring at him. Edward, alone, stepped forward. "_WHO'RE YOU CALLING SO SMALL HE'S DWARFED BY THE MAGGOTS IN YOUR HEAD?!"_

The Guardian grinned slowly, jutting out his hip and setting his fist on it. "Now, now, Half-pint, you should know better than this -- yelling at a Guardian; cutting in line; causing a scene in front of your . . . Well, I guess you really can't call them _peers_. Peers are supposed to be people that are on the same _level_ as you. The only people on the same level as you are toddlers, and even _that's_ being generous."

Russell and Winry both grabbed one of Edward's arms to keep him from decapitating Envy, but he was strong then both of them and yanked away. As they and the rest of the students in line watched, the blonde lunged at Envy, a snarl on his face. He swung his right arm at the Sin, but at the last moment, Envy grabbed the metal fist without even flinching and used Edward's own momentum to swing him and throw him against the opposite wall. The blonde saw stars and Envy once again pushed his advantage, pinning the boy's wrists to the wall and digging his knee into his stomach.

"Oh, you're so _mean_," he purred, leaning in close so their noses were almost touching. "I know I wasn't able to come and see you yesterday, but that's no reason to get violent. Tell you what, though: Since you obviously missed me, and since your little boyfriend is still being punished, I'll come visit you in your dorm tonight to make up for it. You'd like that, wouldn't you, Shrimp?"

"Somehow I don't think that the Headmistress would approve of that."

Both the boy and the Guardian (as well as all of the students watching the drama) turned to watch Master Mustang stroll towards them, a scowl on his face.

"That's enough, Envy, don't you think?" The Sin only sneered at him. "Edward's already been punished and disciplined for his actions so unless he's managed to make another indiscretion in the short time he's been back, then there's no need for this. I think that Headmistress Dante would agree with me."

Envy snarled by pulled away from the boy and turned on Mustang instead; though, unfortunately, he couldn't get away with as much with the teachers as he could with the students. That was a damned shame because some of them seemed to think that they had any actual authority. Like this one.

"You're too bold, Mustang," he growled, pressing close to the man and sneering even more when Roy didn't so much as flinch. "One day, it's gonna get you into trouble."

With that, Envy stormed off, past the crowd of students and other teachers, and disappeared up the staircase. Roy waited for the footsteps to fade before clearing his throat and giving their audience a Look. A moment later, everyone but Edward was lined up again, awaiting breakfast, while sneaking glances at the only two people left that had been involved in the incident.

Edward gazed at the teacher who merely gazed right back at him for a long moment before clearing his throat as if to officially end the incident.

"Edward," he said, "may I speak with you in my office?"

The blonde rolled his eyes. "Now?"

Roy half-glared at him and then turned to leave without another word, just the expectation that Edward would follow him. Knowing that was his expectation just made the blonde want to ignore Mustang and get back in line for breakfast. However, he did follow the teacher, knowing that he'd just get into more trouble if he stayed, and ignored his schoolmates' stares as he left. Really, didn't they have lives of their own to interest them instead of butting in on his?

* * *

"That's just like him."

Russell didn't even look up from his eggs. "What is?"

"_This_!" Panina said, gesturing to their table in general as if that explained everything. "He gets himself in trouble again and then, when he finally comes back, he ditches us to go play with Mustang."

"He's not 'playing' with Master Mustang," Winry objected," and he wasn't gone that long either. I don't think being gone for only a day requires a 'finally.'"

Panina snorted and stole a piece of toast from Russell's tray. "That's what _you_ think." The look on Winry's face just made her smirk. "I can just see them now. Mustang must've really missed him, too, for him to stand up like that to _Envy_."

Russell smirked and earned himself a smack on the back of his head. Panina was faster though and managed to dodge by sinking below the table and popping up between Fletcher and Leo.

Fletcher blushed and tried to hide from Winry's glaring pout behind his orange juice, even though it was directed at Panina. He cleared his throat, though, in an effort to get Winry's mind off of murdering their friend. "So . . . what do you think they're _really_ talking about?" he asked quietly.

Panina barely had time to take a breath before Winry's glare had shut her up.

Russell finished a mouthful of eggs before answering. "It's none of our business." Everyone looked at him and then, almost guiltily, back down at their own trays. That may have stopped them from discussing it, but even Russell was still wondering what was going on in Mustang's office.

* * *

"Can we get this over with? I'm missing breakfast."

Roy closed the office door behind them without locking it since that would seem suspicious.

"It will take less time," he said, "if you cooperate and answer my questions instead of making me drag the answers out of you." He gazed at Edward from the chair behind his desk and Edward gazed back at him from his feet. He was going to make this difficult. Roy sighed. "Very well. At least have a seat since it appears that we'll be here for a while."

Edward snorted but took a seat and waited for the questions to start coming.

Roy steepled his fingers and gazed at the boy across from him. "So?"

"So what?"

He'd been expecting that, so the man only smirked. "So, how was your 'visit'?"

Edward shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Which was completely unbelievable since Edward had come to the man with the problem of getting into his roommate's cell in the first place. But that at least meant that nothing had gone wrong; if it had, then Edward would have said something. Or, at least, Roy hoped that he would have.

"Well," he began again, "did you at least find out what you wanted to?"

The blonde turned to look at the door as if expecting to suddenly develop superpowers that would allow him to see if anyone was listening in on the other side. Sometimes it saddened Roy that someone so young had to be so paranoid. Apparently he wasn't quite satisfied with what he saw.

"If you're asking if I'm gonna get in trouble again any time soon, then no," he answered.

"Well that's certainly a relief. And how long, do you think, is that promise good for?"

Edward shrugged. "No one ever said it was a promise. I don't have any control over what the Sins decide is a broken rule."

"If that's not the biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard I don't know what is."

The blonde glared at him and he sighed. He knew that it wasn't likely for him to win an argument like this against Edward -- he was just too stubborn. And too smart for anyone's good.

When Edward saw that Roy had stopped talking and didn't seem to have anymore questions ready to ask, he jumped to his feet and headed for the door. "Well, if that's it I guess I'll be on my way."

"Just a second, Ed."

The blonde winced and turned back to Mustang. He'd been so close to freedom and food!

Roy stood and looked seriously at the blonde. "I know it's completely useless asking, but I want you to promise me anyway that you're going to at least try to stay out of trouble for a while."

He watched as a strange series of emotions ran across Edward's face. He surprise, guilt, indignity, and several others that he couldn't quite place. The only one that had made any sense to him had been indignity.

It seemed like ages before Edward finally spoke and, when he did, it was in a completely unexpected manner, "Why do you care?"

Normally, Roy would have taken the question as Edward simply being annoyed, but his tone was honestly curious and that surprised the man. "I'm . . . not sure I quite understand what you mean . . . "

Edward's eyebrows knitted and he looked confused with himself; or what he was struggling to say. But the blonde shook his head, finally, and turned to the door. "You're a real idiot, y'know that?"

Roy watched Edward leave. Once the door closed behind him, he smirked, a bit sadly, and sunk into his chair. Yeah, he was a real idiot.

* * *

Winry, Panina, Russell, Fletcher, Leo, and Rick's trays were completely empty about four minutes after Edward returned to the cafeteria -- a record time -- and they all stared at him for a good long while before he finally cracked. "What?!"

A bit surprisingly, Fletcher was the first one to speak up. "They want to know what happened in Master Mustang's office."

It was Edward's turn to stare and he started with Fletcher's bright red face before moving on to the others who all, quite suddenly, had something else to stare at. "He swiped off his desk and bent me over it," he replied non-challantly.

Everyone gaped at him. The bell rang. Edward rolled his eyes and stood to leave. "Geez you guys need to get a life."

_-To be continued_


End file.
